The Ankara Branch of the Chamber of Architects has called for construction to be halted on a bank in the capital, citing the presence of Armenian and Catholics graves on site, Ahval news outlet reports.  

Construction for the state-owned İller Bank in Ulus district is taking place illegally, the chamber said, noting that crews have discovered human bones during the digs, likely part of cemeteries belonging to the minority groups nearby.

Human bones discovered during construction were taken for examination by experts at the city’s Museumof Anatolian Civilizations, chamber chairmanTezcan Karakuş Candan said, with sources showing the area as hosting a Catholic and Armenian cemetery, alongside a Turkish bath (hamam).

"The ongoing construction, despite this (information), is a great disrespect to the multiculturalism of Anatolia,’’ Candan said. "It is inhumane to be dumping concrete on top of those who lived in Anatolia, regardless of their religion, language or race.’’

Candan said authorities that green lighted the construction were committing a crime by violating Law No. 2863 on the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Property’’and the chamber would be taking to the matter to court.

It is reminded that during the Ottoman Empire, present-day Turkey was home to a thriving ethnic Armenian community. But as the empire began to collapse during the First World War, Ottoman authorities were responsible for the systematic killing of up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians, a mass murder now widely accepted to have been a genocide.