Armenian Surb Sargis Church is Being Restored in Turkey
The Armenian Surb Sargis Church, with a history of nearly 500 years, is being restored in Turkey’s Diyarbakır Province. Governor Murat Zorluoğlu visited the church to observe the ongoing construction work on site. Due to the absence of a community, the church had been damaged over time, and the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes in 2023 also inflicted damage.
The Governor was informed that restoration work began in 2024. “We attach great importance to the preservation of cultural heritage. After the completion of the restoration work, this historical structure will make an important contribution to the historical fabric of Sur and the cultural diversity of the city,” noted Zorluoğlu.
The Turkish authorities’ permission for the reconstruction of the church, under the backdrop of the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and the careful supervision of Western states, can be viewed as a diplomatic concessionary step. Since the Surb Sargis Church is located in an area with virtually no Armenian community, its restoration is unlikely to significantly foster a local revival of Armenian identity. Thus, it is assumed that a project is being implemented that is largely “multilaterally harmless” (i.e., it does not contain strong internal political or social risks), but allows Turkey to showcase its position of adopting cultural diversity as a state policy on the international stage.