The historical Mar Yuhanna Greek Orthodox Church in Hatay's Arsuz district, which was partially destroyed in the earthquakes, will be restored.
Mar Yuhanna Greek Orthodox Church in Arsuz, known to have been built in 1777 but dating back to the 1500s, was also partially destroyed in the earthquake on 6 February. Cemil Turan, President of the Mar Yuhanna Greek Orthodox Church Foundation, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the churches destroyed by the earthquake will be restored.
Turan said the following about the restoration of cultural properties damaged in the earthquake region of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
"The wreckage of the 246-year-old church will be removed as soon as possible and its reconstruction will begin with a suitable project. According to written sources, the church was opened in 1777. According to unwritten sources, it is estimated to have been built in the 1500s. We had very precious icons inside our church. "As a result of our negotiations, we plan to remove the wreckage of our church as soon as possible and to remove our icons with the least damage."
Stating that there are about 50 families in the Arsuz community, Turan said; "Thank God, no one even got a nosebleed, but unfortunately, there are heavy damages in the houses and some of them were destroyed. Our greatest consolation is that nothing happened to anyone."
"All we want is for this church to be restored"
Former head of the congregation, Corç Deniz, explained that they left their homes and went to the church after the earthquake and saw that the historical building was destroyed. "We are deeply saddened. All we want is for this church to be restored and operative." he said.
Semira Kara, who lives in the two-storey house next to the church, stated that they took shelter in the garden of the church right after the earthquake and said:
"When the earthquake started, we woke up together with my daughter, wife and mother. We were on the second floor at the beginning of the earthquake. We couldn't get out because we were on the second floor. We could only get down after the earthquake stopped. We thought that the safest place was the church and we came to its garden. We couldn't understand that it had collapsed. We realized it. At first, we learned that it was only in the Arsuz region, then in 10 provinces. At that time, the networks were also gone. We are in a great depression psychologically."