The Armenian cemetery of Malkara in the Tekirdagh region of Turkey has been leased through an auction, reports “ArmenPress”, citing the Turkish Radikal. The state council gave the area for lease for a year and announced that in no way would it grant a “alcohol license”. But Demir Ali Pala, who leased the Armenian cemetery and is a member of the Malkara council of the ruling “Justice and Development” Party, has announced that his goal is to turn the cemetery into an alehouse.

“As far as I know, there is no cemetery here. There used to be a cemetery here 300 years ago. Even if there is no license, people will be able to bring their drinks with them. Nobody can stop us,” said Pala.

Construction at the Armenian cemetery is underway, and the bones that appeared during construction have been covered. One of the builders, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Construction was launched a month ago. After a heavy downpour that took place two weeks ago, there was a landslide. Bones appeared, and we immediately covered them with soil.”

Adnan Yuvarlek, who is a farmer in Malkara, says there used to be Armenian tombstones in this area 15 years ago. “The workers of the museum would come and look for different “samples” here. They obviously can’t find any samples now. The stones came out of the sewerage during another construction project carried out last year.”

There is no specific information about the foundation of the Armenian cemetery in Malkara. The nearly 1.5 square kilometer cemetery appeared in Turkey’s registers in 1976 as an “abandoned cemetery” and “an area near a road”. Nevertheless, it has been used as a venue for holding sporting events throughout the last couple of years.

armenpress.am