Turks Are Turning the Armenian Church in Erzurum into a Dump

In the Gezkoy neighborhood of the Aziziye district in Erzurum, the local municipality is accumulating construction waste near the Armenian St. Minas Church. According to ermenihaber.am, the church, built in 1790 and currently in a dilapidated state, was registered as a historical monument in 2010, suggesting it should be preserved by the state. However, the opposite is occurring: in addition to being turned into a dump, the church is also suffering from looting attacks. Individuals driven by the frenzy of discovering treasures have made excavations near the church's walls and columns. Some malicious individuals have even erased the murals inside the church.

Local residents report that the municipality is dumping construction waste collected from the neighborhoods in this area. If this continues, the church could be buried under piles of garbage.

It is worth noting that conflicting information regarding the possible restoration of the church has been published by both the owner, Sabri Engin, and the Aziziye municipality. After the Armenian Genocide, many properties belonging to Armenians, including churches, were privatized by Turks with state permission.

Engin, who now lives in Germany, stated in 2016 that the municipality threatened to demolish the church if he did not renovate it. He mentioned that he has applied to several institutions for support in the reconstruction, but has received no positive responses. The municipality claims that it requires Engin's permission to restore the church, and allegedly, he is not granting such permission.