PodcastTurkey's Christian community holds first Easter service among ruins in quake-torn Hatay
Turkey's Christian community in the Hatay province on April 16 held the first Easter service more as a commemoration than a celebration after the Feb. 6-dated earthquakes. The participants jumped over the rubble to be able to enter the demolished Antioch Orthodox Church.
Burcu Özkaya Günaydın / Gazete Duvar
On April 16, the Easter service was held in the garden of the demolished Antioch Orthodox Church in the southern Hatay province where the Feb. 6 earthquakes caused great destruction and many casualties.
The Patriarch of Antioch and the All East John X (Yazigi) led the service. The Lebanese television broadcasted the service live.
In the ceremony held in Arabic, those who died in the earthquakes were commemorated and candles were lit for the victims.
The historic Saray Street where the church was located was completely demolished in the quakes. Since the front of the church was full of rubble, those attending the ceremony first broke through the piles of rubble.