An Easter mass was celebrated for the first time in the St. Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir, Turkey, ever since its restoration.  

The Divine Liturgy was served by pastor Avedis Tabashyan of the Forty Children Church in Hatay Province, Turkish Haberfx informs.  

Aside from the Diyarbakir Armenians, Mayor Abdullah Demirbas of Sur city and other officials also attended the Holy Mass.  

The St. Giragos Armenian Church, which is one the biggest churches in the Middle East, was reopened and consecrated on October 22, 2011, and the first mass was celebrated on the next day.

The St. Giragos Armenian Church of Diyarbakir was built in 1376 at the city’s Hancepek district, which was called the “gavur (non-Muslim; infidel) district” by the local Muslims, since a great number of Christians used to live there until the Armenian Genocide.