ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Construction of the first church to be built in modern Turkey began today.
At a groundbreaking ceremony for the Syriac Orthodox Mor Efrem Church in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heralded Turkey’s religious diversity, according to a post on the official Turkish presidency’s website.
“Throughout this long history, our region has always been the heart of religious, ethnic and cultural diversity,” he said.
Yesterday, Middle East Eye reported that Erdogan was set to lay the first brick today for the first church built in modern Turkey. The church will serve the Syriac Christian community in Istanbul, who have been trying to build a new house of worship for ten years as their current one cannot hold the 15,000 Syriacs in the city, the London-based outlet reported.
The church is the first to be built anywhere in the Republic of Turkey era, according to Turkish news site Yeni Asir. The Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I.
Erdogan touted what he described as Turkey’s welcoming policy to outsiders in the speech.
“Our hearts and doors have always been open to all the oppressed and the wronged who have come to these lands from everywhere, from Spain and Eastern Europe to the Caucasus and the North Africa,” he said.
Turkey is currently hosting millions of refugees from Syria and Iraq who fled the scourge of war in their home countries.
Erdogan also asserted that whoever living in Turkey and has loyalty to the country is an equal citizen.
“To us, anyone who has affection for, show loyalty to and contributes to Turkey is a first-class citizen," he said.
He said “terrorists” do not meet this criteria, however.
"Our only exception is terrorist organizations, terrorists and those who betray their country and people,” he said. “Other than that, there has never been discrimination in our minds or hearts, and there will never be.”
Turkey is currently embroiled in a decades-long conflict with the Kurdish militant group the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which wants greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds. Turkish airstrikes regularly target apparent PKK targets in the Kurdistan Region. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization.
