Assyrian community calling on Turkish gov’t to buy 1,700 year-old-church

The sale of a 1,700-year-old church in Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province has hit a snag following objections from the region’s Assyrian community, who are calling on the government to purchase the privately owned property, the Independent Turkish reported on Monday.

The fourth century Mor Yuhanna Church, which is located in Mardin’s Artuklu district and functioned as a warehouse for many years, was put up for sale for 7.25 million liras ($870,000) in October by owner Murat Aycun, who inherited the property from his father.

The Assyrian community initially approached Aycun to strike a deal, the Archbishop of the church Gabriel Akyüz told the Independent, but was unable to reach an agreement with the property owner, who asked for a price they could not afford.

The community has now turned to the government, calling on the General Directorate of Foundations to purchase the property.

"I asked Mr. Aycun to sign the property over to our foundation so that it could be restored and opened for tourism,’’ Akyüz told the Independent. "I offered for him to take over operations for 10 years, which would allow him to make twice the money he is asking for it, but he did not accept (this offer).’’ 

“Only our government authorities can solve this problem,’’ Akyüz added, saying the Assyrian community would be happy if the foundation were to take over the property with terms agreed upon by the owner before signing it over to the minority group.

There are around 25,000 Assyrians left in Turkey, mostly in the country’s southeast, where the decades-long conflict between Turkish armed forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting since 1984, has made life difficult for the minority group.