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Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 4 2015
Syriac Christians to build Turkey's first new church
DAILY SABAH
The government will permit one of Turkey's Christian communities to
build a church, the first such house of worship to be built completely
from scratch in the Republican Era. According to Vatan newspaper's
Emre Eser, the church will be built in the YeÅ?ilköy district of
Istanbul with funds provided by the Mardin Syriac community.
The Virgin Mary Syriac Church will cost $1.5 million, and according to
sources from the Prime Ministry who spoke with Anadolu Agency (AA),
the decision to approve the building of the church was made during the
luncheon Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu held with minority leaders on
Friday at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. There are 25,000 Syriac
Christians in Turkey, 18,000 of whom live in Istanbul, and the church
will be built within the confines of the Catholic Cemetery in
YeÅ?ilköy.
One of the oldest Christian denominations, Syriac Christians use a
language related to the ancient Aramaic of Jesus Christ in their
liturgy.
The project for the church has been ongoing since 2013 and building
plans were completed by architecture company Ergün Mimarlık, which
sent a delegation to Mardin to assess the special Syriac architecture.
According to AA, DavutoÄ?lu listened to the grievances aired by the
representatives of minorities during the luncheon. When the turn came
for the Syriac Metropolitan in Ankara and Istanbul, Yusuf Çetin,
DavutoÄ?lu said, "I know what you want. Let me tell you before you say
it. We will take the necessary steps to resolve the church problem."
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality allocated the Catholic
Cemetery, located on YeÅ?il Zeytin Street, to the Syriac community. The
land allocated to the church includes ancient tombs, and the church
building necessitates approval by the Monuments Board.
The project includes three subterranean floors, two of which will be
allocated to parking. Additionally, the church will have three floors
above ground.
MINORITIES THANK PM
According to sources from the Prime Ministry, the representatives of
the minority communities shared the problems faced by their people in
the past during the luncheon and thanked the prime minister for the
progress that has been made in the past decade.
Among the grievances aired was the ban on religious officials teaching
at minority schools and the passport problems such officials
encounter. According to one complaint, religious officials were given
passports that expired after just six months.
The representative from the Armenian community thanked the government
for the restoration of the church in Ä°skenderun previously used as a
cinema theater and its handing over to the community. The
representatives also thanked the government for issuing its call for
those who had left the country to return.
DavutoÄ?lu said that when some state officials mentioned minority
communities, they talk about them as if these citizens were linked to
foreign countries. "Everyone who is sitting around this table is an
equal citizen of the Republic of Turkey," he said.
http://www.dailysabah.com/istanbul/2015/01/02/new-assyrian-church-to-be-constructed-in-istanbul
Jan 4 2015
Syriac Christians to build Turkey's first new church
DAILY SABAH
The government will permit one of Turkey's Christian communities to
build a church, the first such house of worship to be built completely
from scratch in the Republican Era. According to Vatan newspaper's
Emre Eser, the church will be built in the YeÅ?ilköy district of
Istanbul with funds provided by the Mardin Syriac community.
The Virgin Mary Syriac Church will cost $1.5 million, and according to
sources from the Prime Ministry who spoke with Anadolu Agency (AA),
the decision to approve the building of the church was made during the
luncheon Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu held with minority leaders on
Friday at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. There are 25,000 Syriac
Christians in Turkey, 18,000 of whom live in Istanbul, and the church
will be built within the confines of the Catholic Cemetery in
YeÅ?ilköy.
One of the oldest Christian denominations, Syriac Christians use a
language related to the ancient Aramaic of Jesus Christ in their
liturgy.
The project for the church has been ongoing since 2013 and building
plans were completed by architecture company Ergün Mimarlık, which
sent a delegation to Mardin to assess the special Syriac architecture.
According to AA, DavutoÄ?lu listened to the grievances aired by the
representatives of minorities during the luncheon. When the turn came
for the Syriac Metropolitan in Ankara and Istanbul, Yusuf Çetin,
DavutoÄ?lu said, "I know what you want. Let me tell you before you say
it. We will take the necessary steps to resolve the church problem."
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality allocated the Catholic
Cemetery, located on YeÅ?il Zeytin Street, to the Syriac community. The
land allocated to the church includes ancient tombs, and the church
building necessitates approval by the Monuments Board.
The project includes three subterranean floors, two of which will be
allocated to parking. Additionally, the church will have three floors
above ground.
MINORITIES THANK PM
According to sources from the Prime Ministry, the representatives of
the minority communities shared the problems faced by their people in
the past during the luncheon and thanked the prime minister for the
progress that has been made in the past decade.
Among the grievances aired was the ban on religious officials teaching
at minority schools and the passport problems such officials
encounter. According to one complaint, religious officials were given
passports that expired after just six months.
The representative from the Armenian community thanked the government
for the restoration of the church in Ä°skenderun previously used as a
cinema theater and its handing over to the community. The
representatives also thanked the government for issuing its call for
those who had left the country to return.
DavutoÄ?lu said that when some state officials mentioned minority
communities, they talk about them as if these citizens were linked to
foreign countries. "Everyone who is sitting around this table is an
equal citizen of the Republic of Turkey," he said.
http://www.dailysabah.com/istanbul/2015/01/02/new-assyrian-church-to-be-constructed-in-istanbul