Why Don't You Preserve the Armenian Cemetery in Ankara? Paylan Addresses the Parliament

The Armenian MP of Turkey's opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Garo Paylan, has brought the issue of the destruction of the Armenian cemetery in Ankara to the agenda of the Turkish Parliament (Meclis). This was reported by the website ermenihaber.am.

"The Armenian cemetery, belonging to the Armenian Holy Savior and St. Forty Martyrs Churches in the Sincan district of Ankara, continues to be targeted by treasure hunters and is being continuously destroyed. Paylan reminded that the cemetery area is part of Ankara's historical and cultural heritage and added that it was declared a specially protected area in the 1990s.

According to him, the looting carried out by treasure hunters and contractors has deeply hurt the Armenian community in Turkey. Paylan also noted that recently treasure hunters have opened several graves belonging to the Hellenistic period and scattered human bones.

After receiving alerts about the situation, police units conducted investigations at the scene and subsequently closed the opened graves. The MP has submitted a question to the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Nuri Ersoy, seeking answers to the following questions: 1) Why don't you preserve the Armenian cemetery in Stanozi, Ankara? 2) Have you taken any steps to identify the treasure hunters who looted the Stanozi Armenian cemetery? 3) What measures are you taking to stop the activities of treasure hunters that cause significant damage to cultural values? 4) Do you have any plans to preserve the numerous abandoned Armenian cemeteries across the country?