A senior official of an Armenian church foundation in southeastern Türkiye’s Diyarbakir province has welcomed the ongoing normalisation process between Ankara and Yerevan, saying increased contact could deepen friendship between the two countries.
“We view the ongoing rapprochement between Armenia and Türkiye very positively,” Ohannes Gafur Ohanyan, vice president of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation, told Anadolu.
Ohanyan spoke during a visit by seven Turkish and seven Armenian journalists to Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir’s historic Sur district. The visit was part of an EU-funded media tour supporting normalisation between the two countries.
“We believe that as these kinds of visits and events increase, the friendship between the two countries will grow even stronger,” he said. “Hopefully, the borders will open soon too.”
Türkiye and Armenia have no diplomatic relations, and their land border has been closed since 1993. The two countries launched a normalisation initiative in late 2021, appointing retired Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Armenian parliament Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan as special envoys.
Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said in May that technical and bureaucratic work to reopen the border was ongoing, although preparations for direct trade had been completed.
In early May, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz visited Armenia, where officials signed a memorandum on the joint restoration of the historic Ani Bridge, a medieval structure spanning the border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also discussed advancing normalisation, strengthening trade and economic ties, and improving regional transport links during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month.
Church draws Armenians from around the world
Diyarbakir’s Armenian community numbers around 60 to 65 people, according to Ohanyan. Despite its small size, the community maintains an active religious and social life centred on the church.
“Because we do not have a permanent resident clergyman here, we hold around eight to 10 services a year during important religious holidays,” he said.
Ohanyan described Surp Giragos as an 800-year-old church and the largest Armenian church in the Middle East, attracting visitors from Armenia and the diaspora in Europe and the United States.
After decades of disuse, the church underwent extensive restoration led by the local foundation, with subsequent support from Turkish state institutions, including the Culture and Tourism Ministry, before reopening for worship.
The church was later damaged during clashes in Sur in 2015 involving the terrorist group PKK. It was restored with funding from Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, under the coordination of the General Directorate of Foundations, and reopened for worship after seven years.
Restoration continues at second historic church
The foundation’s second church, the roughly 500-year-old Surp Sarkis in the Alipasa neighbourhood, fell into disrepair over time because it had no congregation. It was further damaged by the February 2023 earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaras.
Restoration began in 2024 with a grant from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
“Surp Sarkis has been in ruins for nearly a century,” Ohanyan said. “We have made considerable progress and have largely completed the structural work on the main building.”
He called on businesspeople, philanthropists and the wider public to provide further support.
“A major church is being saved,” he added.
