Archbishop Aram Atesyan, General Vicar of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, presided over the Holly Mass that was served in Surp (Holy) Giragos Armenian Church of Diyarbakir, Turkey.   

Atesyan told reporters that the children of those Armenians who had left Diyarbakir had attended the Divine Service, reported Taraf daily of Turkey.  

In Archbishop Atesyan’s words, it is great joy for them that Holy Masses continue to be offered and there is a spiritual atmosphere in the largest Armenian church in the Middle East.   

The Surp (Holy) Giragos Armenian Church, which can seat 1,400 faithful, was built in 1376. Ever since 1980, however, the church had been left to its fate. But a group of Istanbul-based Diyarbakir Armenians had formed a fund for the restoration of the church. The fund had covered the 70 percent and the Diyarbakir Municipality had taken care of the remaining 30 percent of the costs for the restoration of the church.