the last shortcomings of opening of the first church in the history of Republic of Turkey is going fixed. Old St. Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church, being built built in Yeşilköy district of Istanbul is scheduled to open in two months.
In 2019, it was released foundation Developed with A ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to fulfill the request of Syriac community to customize a place of worship them.
President of Old Istanbul Syriac Institution Sait Sosin said, “Fever work being carried out To defeat last deficiencies to open first- the church of Turkish Republic”.
Share the details of the church building Susan explained: first floor booked up for The cultural hall where worshipers gather, and ceremonies such as baptisms, condolences and weddings are held, as well as meetings, conferences and on Earth floor Prayers and rituals would be held, and there was a bishop’s living area, guest rooms, and a parking lot. chandeliers f sound systems in The cultural hall is being installed in Coming days.”
This will be it second Approximately 17,000 Assyrians live in the church in the city. Sawsan explained that the church built in Tarlabasi in 1844 did not meet the requirements of Assyrians in Istanbul, so they tried to pray in 6 different churches belong to parishioners. because of the difference in It was the ritual and the time hard for who are they perform their prayers.
“because of this need we made request to us government for Customize of Separated place for Primarily worship in Yeşilköy, Bakırköy and Florya where Assyrian community densely populated, we wanted customization to be in Bakirkoy, where our worshipers are concentrated, l build Our church. The former mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topbaş, supported this cause And allocated a space in Latin Catholic Cemetery”, Sosen outlined.
Sosin indicated that the building was permitted with to intervene of authorities, including Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Recalling that there were discussions in the public about the church built on Sawsan Graves said: “The church is not like that built on graves but in empty spaces of a area of 2,700 sq m (29,062.56 sq ft). We did the primer work before starting construction, in The case of a missing cemetery.
Confirming that the church was built in According with Today’s conditions are based on Church Historical Examples Sosen said: “We have countless churches in Mardin, the southeast and the middle east built a thousand years ago. There are important stone works in All our churches are from Mardin and the eastern cities of Turkey, this stone is a very widespread and applicable stone, but we could not use here. Instead, we tried to make the church fit for Today’s conditions using Properties of Syriac churches added.
the church cost About $4 million was funded with Donations communityBut also Benefit from the value ofadded Tax exempt application (VAT) in Places of Worship for Foundation of the fund in this regard. This is the first church built from zero in the history of Republic. “There are some churches that have been around built in the history of Republic, some of They either restored or about to be demolished. It first The time when the church was formal built. It great pride for usWe are grateful to the state institutions and, above all, to the President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for what he was possible without him supportSusan maintained.
