In solidarity with the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany has condemned the destruction of an Armenian sacred site by ISIL (the Islamic Stat of Iraq and Levant).

It has expressed its anger over the violent act the led to the blowup of the Armenian Martyrs Church of Deir-ez-Zor (Syria)

In a letter addressed to His Holiness Garegin Tigran Bekchian, the prelate of the ACC’s diocese in Germany, the German church’s president, Nicolaus Schneider and Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber, expressed their sympathy to the Armenians.

“We know that this church was a Genocide monument-complex which eternalized the memory of the 1915 events against the Christian-Armenians of the Ottoman Empire. Being aware of the devastating act, I request you to accept our assurances that we are expressing our solidarity with the pious Armenian sisters and brothers, and all the Christians of the Middle East, who suffer from the acts committed by the Islamic State. And we pray for them,” they said.

The church, dedicated to the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, was earlier reported to have been completely leveled in the blast.

“We reject the Islamic State’s violence against people, as well as the destruction of the religious and historical site,” said the German clergymen. “We are confident that the destruction of the churches and the devastation of the monument sites can never wipe out the memory of injustice.”