On Tues. April 28, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia filed a lawsuit in the Turkish Constitutional Court to regain ownership of the historic headquarters of the Church, which includes the Catholicosate, the monastery, and cathedral of St. Sophia, a major Armenian Christian holy site located in Sis (currently Kozan), in south-central Turkey. This site was confiscated by the Turkish Government following the genocide of 1915 in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported by the Ottoman Empire.
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You might be aware that in the past decade a number of Catholic priests, nuns and Protestant ministers have been slain in Turkey. What’s to stop extremists from harming Armenian priests IF Turkey concedes to the Catholicos of Cilcia?
It will never happen because the Turks would then have to admit they robbed 1.5 million Armenians, including both my grandparents of their farms and land and any money they had. My grandmother said that they had a huge farm with many animals, she got out with my father and aunt and uncle, but her first husband wasn’t so lucky, he died, and she lost another child (with her first husband) when a Turk shot her with her young son on her back. The bullet went through the child killing him, then entered her body. She was more fortunate! Thrown to the ground with blood everywhere the Turks left her for dead. She remarried and got out of the country after her new husband came to America and worked his butt off and sent her enough money to come here. All she had was her children, a rug, a tea pot and a fork.
No, we’re smoking something if we think they will relent and hand over the church.
The Armenians MUST try and get all the properties back and on top of that MUST demand that Turkey repair and return all the churches to its rightful owners the ARMENIANS. They should not get away with the inhumane way they have treated the ARMENIANS.
I applaud the leadership of His Holiness Aram I in this regard. The church can and must play a critical role in the reparations phase with western Armenia. In addition, this initiative should include a public awareness phase in parallel to keep our children connected to occupied Armenia. The new arrangements of “Giligia” should flood social media and become popular with our youth. We must upgrade our public knowledge and not assume everyone understands the significance of this move.
My Grandmother was a survivor, as was my Father, 5 years old on 1915. I hope that justice will prevail.