Church for Armenian Orthodox Christians opens to worshippers in Erbil

Emil Lazarian 2019
Rudaw, Kurdistan Province, Iraq
April 7 2019


Church for Armenian Orthodox Christians opens to worshippers in Erbil 

  By Rudaw         

Armenian Orthodox Christians who fled sectarian violence in northern Iraq for the comparative security of the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil can finally pray in their own place of worship. 

The Church of the Holy Cross opened its doors on April 6 in a special ceremony attended by Armenian Orthodox clergy, including the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Iraq Avak Asadourian, diplomats, and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials.

The KRG paid for the church’s construction at a cost of 2.2 billion IQD ($1,845,000). 

Four of the Kurdistan Region’s five Armenian Orthodox Churches are in Duhok province. An estimated 600 Armenian families live in the Kurdistan Region – 490 of them in Duhok and 110 in Erbil.

Reporting by Payam Sarbast 


Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS