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The St. Giragos Armenian Catholic Church, located in the Suri region of Diyarbakir, has become target of thieves, Ermenihaber reports. The sources quotes Vartkes Ergun Ayik, the chairman of the executive board of Saint Giragos Armenian Church Charitable Foundation, saying the clergy face obstacles to enter the Church due to the ongoing clashes between Turkish armed forces and Kurdish militants as well as the imposed city-wide curfew by Turkish authorities.

Ayik has informed that taking the chance of the Church inactivity, robbers easily enter the building and occasionally steal various historic items. The chairman has called on the respective bodies to take measures to increase the Church security.

The source reminds, the Church have suffered extensive damage as a result of the fierce Kurdish-Turkish clashes and is in need of repair works.

The St. Giragos Church was built in 1376. The belfry of the largest church in the Near East was destroyed in 1913 by lightning, after which the Armenians built a new belfry with a bell made from gold and copper. However, in 1915, the Turks struck the bell at the spot that lightning had struck it. They destroyed the belfry just because it stood taller than the towers of the mosques nearby.

The church was renovated with the funds of the local Armenian community and the local Kurdish-controlled municipality of the time It was reopened in 2011after 32 years of inactivity.