Turkish army to return Armenian church located on base

By Erhan Ozturk
Translator(s)Timur Goksel

The Turkish army is making an important contribution to the  decision to return the property of minority foundations.

Surp Kevork Armenian church, which is located inside the Sivas-Temeltepe 5th  Infantry Training Brigade’s base, will be restored and handed over to the  Friends of Armenians Association of Sivas. Sebuk Kocak, the president of the  Friends of Armenians Association of Sivas expressed his pleasure in a statement  to Sabah. “The church has been inside that military zone since  1940. For many years, we were not allowed to go near it. This summer we went to  the brigade with our friends. The commander allowed us in and we were able to  see our church after so many years. Frankly, we were not expecting to be given  permission [to enter]. We were all happy. We didn’t have a church where we could  worship and pay respect to our dead,” he said.

Before 1915, the Armenians had 198 churches and 21 monasteries in  the Sivas region. The only one still standing is the Surp Kevork Church. There  is an Armenian cemetery near it. Turkish Minister of Defense Ismet Yilmaz, who  hails from Sivas, was personally involved in the work to return the church.  Association officials visited the minister in October and asked him to restore  and return the church. Yilmaz told them that the government had made serious  efforts to return the properties of minorities. He promised them that he would  try to expedite the return of the property after restoration was completed.

Yilmaz later went to Sivas and instructed the governor of Sivas, Zubeyir  Kemelek, and his deputy, Salih Ayhan, to start the work.

The church has been inside a military zone for 73 years, thus saving it from  treasure hunters. The church has little damage and should be restored  quickly.

Gov. Kemelek also spoke to Sabah. “It is the only structure  that is standing with its walls and roof intact. The minister responded to the  request made to him by coming and inspecting it. It is good fortune that the  church was inside a military zone. As soon as formalities are competed we will  ask for bids for restoration, which will not deviate from the original. I have  asked our Armenian citizens to bring photographs of it,” he said.

Deputy Gov. Ayhan, who is coordinating the restoration work, said the church  will be removed from the guarded military zone. He added, “That military base  has been the largest military training base in the region since the 1940s. It is  also a training center for our border units. The church occupies an area of  about five acres in the military zone. We asked for its return from the Treasury  and they wrote their approval to the Ministry of Defense. As soon the Defense  Ministry agrees, that land will be handed over to us. Then the restoration will  commence.”

Architect Zakarya Mildanoglu, who was in the delegation that visited Yilmaz,  said, “Our people don’t have a place of worship and somewhere that they can pay  their respects to their dead in Sivas. There is one cemetery. After the Armenian deportation, churches were destroyed in many parts  of Anatolia. Similar places exist in other military zones. I hope the procedures  will be completed quickly.”

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