Exclusive Photographs: Surp Giragos Has Been Off Limits to the Public Since the Most Recent Clashes between the Turkish Military and Kurdish Fighters in Diyarbakir

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.)—The Armenian Weekly has received a set of secretly taken photographs inside Diyarbakir’s Surp Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church, off limits to the public since the most recent clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdish fighters in Diyarbakir. The photographs were taken in July 2017.

Armenians from around the world flocked to Surp Giragos on Oct. 22, 2011, to attend both the consecration of the largest Armenian Church in the Middle East and the Badarak held the following day. The church had been recently renovated by the Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation, with the support of the local Kurdish-controlled municipality of the time.

During the past two tumultuous years, the church has been desecrated and largely damaged, as the photographs show.

These photos were captured by a Diyarbakir resident and sent to the Armenian Weekly on condition of anonymity.