The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople claims on the returning of the Armenian churches from the Turkish Government

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople has sent many claims to the Turkish Government to return the Armenian churches to their true owner. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople informed "Armenpress" about this adding that the active churches in the territory of Turkey belong to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Armenian community.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople stated: "Notwithstanding, Turkey is afraid to return the churches, as it cannot support even those churches under the jurisdiction of the community. One should note the circumstance that the Armenian community sacrifices a lot for the restoration and putting in good order the churches under the jurisdiction of the community. One of the brilliant examples of this is the church of St. Kirakos of Tigranakert, which belongs to the community and has been capitally restored, although it was not possible to find enough support for this and now the parish council has many debts."

The mass celebration and anointment of the entire monastic complex of the Armenian church of St. Kirakos took place in the city of Diyarbekir in the South-Eastern part of Turkey. St. Kirakos Church had been forsaken since 1980, but the Armenians from Diyarbekir living in Istanbul established the "St. Kirakos" foundation for the restoration of the church. 70 % (USD 2, 5 million) of the costs laid on the Armenian foundation, as to the Diyarbekir Municipality it paid the remaining 30 %.