Armenian Tashoron Church in Malatya will be restored

PanARMENIAN.Net - An old Armenian church, located in the neighbourhood where slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was born, will be restored.



A mosque foundation carrying out activities in Çarmuzu-Kaynarca district of the eastern province of Malatya has recently applied to the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism for the restoration of the "Armenian Tashoron Church" constructed in the province's Çavuşoğlu neighbourhood nearly 300 years ago.



Çavuşoğlu neighbourhood is also the birthplace of journalist Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, who was shot dead outside his newspaper's offices in Istanbul in 2007.



During a visit to his hometown in 2002, Dink had also expressed his desire for the restoration of the church.



Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on the project, the mosque foundation's president Latif Yıldırım said Tuesday that Tashoron Church was constructed in the 18th century, during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.



Yıldırım said his foundation, together with several NGOs and the non-Muslim population living in Malatya, had been displaying efforts for the restoration of the old building since the beginning of 2009.



Expressing the importance of freedom of faith, Yıldırım said religions should act with tolerance towards each other and seek for dialogue.



"The historical Armenian church in Çavuşoğlu neighbourhood is about to collapse. It was constructed during the Ottoman period and this shows us how a tolerant and libertarian culture we are coming from. People lived all together and practised their religious beliefs freely at those times. This happens and should happen today as well," he said.



Yıldırım also said the restoration process of the historical temple would be carried out with the support of Malatya municipality, Today's Zaman reported.