Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır prepares for Liturgy

YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN, İSTANBUL
12/10/2011

Once one of the largest churches in the Middle East, Surp Giragos Church in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır will be reopened on Oct. 23 for a religious ceremony.

Renovation started at the end of 2009 after the Diyarbakır Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation undertook the restoration project of the church.

Ergün Ayık, the head of the foundation, said the Surp Giragos Church is in a complex that encompasses more than 3,200 square meters and includes a chapel, a meeting room, a school, a dining hall and rectories.

“Restoration of the church, which makes up about 85 percent of the complex, is secured. But the restoration of the rest of the complex depends on more funds,” Ayık said of the project, which has cost $2.5 million and has been provided mostly by the foundation.

Ayık also added that while the Diyarbakır Municipality had provided about one-third of the total renovation budget, other state institutions had not contributed even though the foundation had requested more funding. “The rest of the renovation of the complex can be completed in three or four months if funding is secured,” he said. The church was seized by the German army during World War I, and in 1918 it was converted into a textile warehouse of Sümerbank. After the Armenian population of the area made an application in 1952 asking for its return, the church was given back to the community. However, because of the lack of a congregation, it had been neglected since 1980.

“It was in ruins,” Ayık said. “Its opening will make moral, economic and social contributions.”

Ayık said that on the evening of Oct. 22 there will be a service at the church to consecrate it, and on the next day, which is a Sunday, there will be a religious service bearing significance for the few Armenians left in the region and the country. Armenians inside and outside the country are also expected to attend the ceremony. “First, this is a very important church from an architectural point of view. Second, it symbolizes the past. This is one of only seven Armenian churches in the city,” he said and added that there had been about 40,000-45,000 Armenians living in Diyarbakır prior to the mass deportation of Armenians during the 1915 events. There is one Armenian family living in the city today. The religious ceremony will follow another first in the region. Since the Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakır belongs to the church foundation, there are no restrictions on when a service can be held.

“It is open to everybody who wants to be here,” Ayık said. The service will be headed by Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, the deputy patriarch of the Armenian Patriarchate based in İstanbul.

For the service on Oct. 23, they expect Armenians in and outside the country in addition to clergy from Armenia to attend. A number of high-ranking officials, including state ministers and the city’s governor and mayor, have also been invited.

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