The “go ahead” has been given to turn the Armenian Protestant Church in Elazig (Kharberd, in Armenian), Turkey, into a hotel.

Even though the church is on Turkey’s Cultural Heritage List, this had no bearing on granting permission to build a hotel on the church grounds, or to turn it into a hotel, reported T24.com website of Turkey.

The person, who operates the church area as a parking lot, had petitioned to the relevant authorities and he was granted permission to build a hotel in the premises.

This individual, when submitting a petition to turn the Armenian church into a hotel, had claimed, however, that such a large structure, which is composed of two floors, could not have been a church.