After having turned into a military unit in the wake of the Armenian Genocide, the Saint Gevorg Armenian Church in the Turkish city of Sivas (Svaz) will be renovated. This comes after a petition submitted to the council of Svaz state by Turkish Minister of Defense Ismet Yelmaz.

The church was included in the Temeltepe area of the 5^th military instruction brigade of the Turkish Armed Forces built near the church and was removed from military subordination through a petition of the “Union of Friends of Armenians of Svaz”.

The council of Svaz has informed that it intends to start renovating the church next spring. President of the “Union of Friends of Armenians of Svaz” Sepuh Kochak expressed gratitude to the Turkish Minister of Defense for bringing the church out of the subordination of the Turkish brigade. There used to be 198 churches and 21 monasteries in Svaz state prior to the Armenian Genocide, but most of them were destroyed. The Saint Gevorg Church is located in the “Tavra Boghaz” area in central Svaz.