Armenian church in eastern Turkey holds first Mass in 106 years

The cupola of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Holy Trinity in the eastern Turkish city of Malatya had been in ruins for decades. But it has now risen again.

And under clear stone vaults that probably still smell like new, some 150 worshipers gathered on August 29 for the first Mass since the recent restoration of this building dating from the 18th Century. 

In fact, it was the first religious ceremony here in 106 years.

The ancient Melitene (the Latin name of Malatya) is best known today for its apricots. But during the 1915 genocide it was an important crossroads in the deportation of Armenians from Anatolia.

Its mayor at the time, Mustafa Aga Azizoglu, was recognized as a righteous person after opposing the extermination planned by the government of the Young Turks.

In 1921, he was killed by his own son, who did not tolerate his father's help to "infidels".

A prudent archbishop

A century later, what remains of the Armenians of Malatya?

There are still a handful of "remnants of the sword", as the descendants of the 200,000 Armenians who were Islamized at the time are called.

For less than half a century, the silence that surrounded their Armenianness has begun to lift, and some of them are quietly finding their way back to the churches.

But the Armenians were not alone in the Holy Trinity Church at the August 29th liturgy. Syriacs were also invited.

The Mass was meant to be a strong symbol for the Christian communities of Anatolia, decimated by decades of war and persecution.

"It is a very important message in terms of peace, unity and fraternity for this country," said the Armenian patriarch of Constantinople, Bishop Sahak Mashalian, who came from Istanbul to preside over the ceremony.

It was a "very docile and prudent" speech, according to some observers who, more broadly, recognized the attitude of the Armenians of Turkey.

Many Christian places of worship in Turkey have been destroyed or transformed into mosques over the last century. 

So how does one interpret the restoration of this Armenian church in Malatya?

Though the project was initiated by an Armenian association, Hayder, it also got support from the local Turkish authorities.

An operation which "takes the form of communication"

Tigrane Yégavian, a journalist and author of Minorités d’Orient: Les oubliés de l’Histoire (2019), said one must look at the "political logic" of the Turkish government.

"On the one hand, they are trying to erase the traces of Christian presence, and on the other hand they are restoring a few churches at great expense, in an operation that is mainly a matter of communication," he explains.

The Armenian Church of Sourp Giragos (Saint Cyriacus) in Diyarbakir, the capital of Turkish Kurdistan, is reputed to have been one of the largest in the Middle East. 

It was restored and opened to the public in 2011.

This was also the case, four years earlier, of the Church of the Holy Cross on the island of Akhtamar, on Lake Van.

But the inauguration in 2007 was boycotted by several notable Armenians, including Catholicos Karekin II.

Once restored, the church became a museum, and as such could only hold Mass once a year. Outside of this day, praying there is forbidden.

Will this also be the fate of the Armenian church in Malatya? It would seem so, since it is now officially a cultural center, the "Cultural Center of Art and Tashhoran Culture".

Local Armenian communities will be able to use it for religious ceremonies (baptisms, weddings, etc.), but only on request.