The site of an Armenian church in Turkey listed for sale

2026-11-04

The site of the Armenian church in the village of Kovtun in Western Armenia has an “owner” who wishes to sell it.

Located near Sivas (Sebastia), the settlement of Kovtun was once one of the major Armenian villages in the region. On the eve of the Armenian Genocide in 1915, it had a population of more than 3,000 Armenians.

Following the Armenian Genocide, the Church of St. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) remained standing in the village. However, it is listed in Turkey’s land registry as a stable. Although the church was registered as a first-degree protected cultural heritage site in 2012, the Turks nevertheless sought to convert it into a mosque.

In 2024, the owner of the site of the Armenian church announced that he was putting it up for sale for 16 million Turkish liras. A year later, he increased the asking price to 100 million liras.

As a reminder, in 1981 Turkey acceded to UNESCO’s 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, thereby undertaking to take appropriate measures to ensure the protection of cultural property located within its territory.

Subscribe to our channel on Telegram