Armenian church in Turkish city past repair

The St Gevorg church of Mardin (southeastern Turkey) has not been reportedly renovated since being returned to the Armenian Catholics a couple of years ago.

The Armenian catholic community has said it doesn’t have enough financial means to repair the church which for several years served as a warehouse of the Agriculture Ministry.

According to the Turkish newspaper Evrensel, the building is now under the threat of collapse, being doomed to destruction like many other churches on the territory of Anatolia.

An Armenian foundation which took the church under its care has not reconstructed the building but it has repaired the roof to prevent a possible collapse.

Turkish human rights activist and publisher Ragip Zarakolu had revealed the church occasionally during a trip to the region.

Before a decision to repair the building could take effect, one of its guards dug a 7m deep hole in search of treasure, thus deteriorating the church's foundations still further.