- December 23 2017 17:25:00
A total of 14 churches and a temple have been restored in Turkey from 2003 to 2017, an official statement said.
The restored worship places included Great Synagogue in the western province of Edirne, Aya Nikola Church in the Gökçeada district of the northwestern province of Çanakkale, Syrian Catholic Church in the İskenderun district of the southern province of Hatay, Armenian Protestant Church in the Sur district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, Fevkani Church in the Nizip district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep, Taksiyarhis (Ayanikola) Church in the Cunda island of the northwestern province of Balıkesir, Edirnekapı Aya Yorgi Church and Balat Iron Church (Sveti Stefan Church) in Istanbul.
The Sveti Stefan Church in Balat, which is the only iron church, will reopen after nine years of restoration with a ceremony to be attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov on Jan. 7.