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| The Grand Turk |
| Ex-Sunnis baptized in E. Turkey (Diyarbakır) |
| 2011-10-25 |
| in a Turkish Newspaper A group of Armenians, raised as Sunni Muslims, was baptized 10/23 as Armenian Orthodox christians at the historic St. Giragos (Surp Giragos) Armenian Church in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır.The names of those to be baptized were not revealed for security reasons. A religious service was held at the church, one day after it was re-opened following the completion of the restoration work. Among the participants in yesterday's service were guests from Armenia and the United States, including former foreign minister of Armenia and the leader of Armenia's Heritage Party, Raffi Hovhannesian, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardione and Archbishop Vicken Ayvazian, diocese of the Armenian Orthodox Church of America. Other participants at the ceremony included Dositheos Anagnostopulos, spokesperson for the Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Yusuf Çetin, patriarchal vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul, Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir and Sur Mayor Abdullah Demirbaş. |
| Posted by:Lord Garth |