Mor Yuhanna Church is located in the Artuklu district of Mardin province. It was built 1700 years ago and served as a place of worship until the mid-twentieth century when it was turned into a woodshop by the father of Murat Tekcan, the current owner. The building is currently empty in preparation for sale and is advertised for sale online for $800,000.
“We have been using this for 60 to 70 years,” Tekcan told Rudaw. His father had bought the church from another private owner. “This place is registered under my name. I want to sell it to Assyrians because it is religiously very important for them. I want it for them, not other people.”
He said that local Christians have made several attempts to acquire the church but he and his father before him have both insisted on payment. “I inherited this place and I will not give it to them for free,” he said.
He previously put the church up for sale in 2015, but failed to find a buyer.
Fr. Gabriel Akyuz, priest of the nearby Kirkkale Church, told Rudaw they have asked Tekcan to give them the church “as a gift, but he demanded money in return.”
“We told him that we do not have money and we are poor. We also offered to build his statue so that his name remains alive forever. Instead he demanded to be compensated with another place,” said Akyuz.
He called on the government to buy the church from Tekcan and donate it to their community.
Reporting by Abdulsalam Akinci, translations by Karwan Faidhi Dri
.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)
