By Nilay Kar
ISTANBUL
Turkey’s tiny community of Assyrian Christians is looking to the future with renewed confidence after moves to construct their own dedicated church – the first to be erected in Turkey for decades.
Around 20,000 Assyrians in Istanbul have had only one church in Turkey’s mega province of Istanbul -- but a recent high-level government decision will see a new institution to be constructed in the near future.
The decision, which came during a meeting between Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu with representatives of non-Muslim minority communities in Istanbul last week, has been welcomed by members of the tiny community.
“The prime minister told us that he would ‘give good news soon’ to resolve our church problem," says Kenan Gurdal, deputy director of Virgin Mary Assyrian Church Foundation, who was among those who met Davutoglu.
Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient northern Mesopotamia. Their language – an Aramaic tongue – is one of the oldest in the world, with a history stretching back 5,500 years.
“This was what we had been looking for, for years,” says 26-year-old Meri Belbak, a school principal of an Assyrian nursery in Istanbul.
The new church is planned for the Yesilkoy neighborhood of Bakirkoy district, an area close to Istanbul Ataturk Airport. It will be financed by the community and is expected to cost around $2 million.
Gurdal expresses his pleasure over the government's promise for construction of the church: “We are very glad to see a close interest to our community and support by the AK Party government."
According to the plans by the community, there will be a parking lot and a cafe in the church complex which will be able to host at least 700 worshippers.
The only such church in the province – the Virgin Mary Assyrian Church, also known as Surp Asdvadzadzin – is located in Beyoglu district and is far from many Assyrians, who mainly reside in Bakirkoy and its Yesilkoy and Atakoy neighborhoods.
The community also uses some Catholic churches in the province for services.
There are around 25,000 Assyrians living in Turkey, according to the community. The majority (around 20,000) live in Istanbul, while the others reside in the eastern Turkish provinces of Mardin, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir and Elazig.
Another Assyrian, Jenny Degirmenci, a 31-year-old English teacher, is also glad to be able to pray in their own institution, stressing the importance of the closeness of the church.
“It is a pride for us to have our own church here in Istanbul. It would be very good as it will be close to us,” she says.
Gurdal agrees: “There are some elders and those, who cannot drive (to go to Beyoglu). As majority of the community lives around Yesilkoy, it will be a good place to build a church.”
“We have not received any official information yet from the government (about details of the construction)," the Virgin Mary Assyrian Church Foundation said. They now wait for an official go-ahead for construction.
