Turkish authorities have reportedly moved to sell two ancient, Greek and Assyrian churches according to reports from Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung, writes Konstantin Mikolenko for the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
A Greek Orthodox Church in Bursa and the Syrian Orthodox Church in Mardin are on sale for 441,000 euros and 507,500 euros, respectively.
The news of the sale was made public after a query from the deputy of the opposition Democratic Party of Peoples Garo Paylan to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.
Paylan was outraged by news of the sale and asked Ersoy a question: “Doesn’t it bother you, Mr Minister? If a mosque were put up for sale anywhere in the world, the whole of Turkey would probably revolt. "
This comes no surprise as revenue-hungry Turkey is in the midst of a financial crisis that has seen inflation skyrocket and the national currency devalued by 40%.
As reported, there was an attempt to sell the existing church of the UOC-KP in Kharkiv.
