Turkey inaugurates first church built in republic’s history

Turkey on Oct. 8 inaugurated St. Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul as the first church built since the proclamation of the republic 100 years ago. President Erdoğan also attended the ceremony.

St. Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul on Oct. 8 was inaugurated as the first church built in the history of the Republic of Turkey, in the centenary year of the republic.

Photographs: Reuters

1 11

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Sahak II, head of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey and Yusuf Çetin, Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church and metropolitan for Istanbul and Ankara, attend the inauguration ceremony.

2 11

The church was built on the site of the Latin Catholic Cemetery in Istanbul's Bakırköy district’s Yeşilköy neighborhood which is highly populated by the country’s Syriac community.

3 11

Assyrian churches in Turkey are known for their rich examples of craftsmanship in stone. In the newly built church, a simpler design was preferred due to environmental factors as most of the older churches have been built in Southeastern part of the county known for its fine stone materials.

4 11