Turkey is employing “new ways of intimidating the Armenian community,” according to a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
It is noted that Armenian religious heritage sites in Turkey remain under threat. In early 2021, the Armenian Church of Saint Toros in Kütahya was demolished after it passed into the ownership of an unknown individual, despite having protected monument status. In August, an Armenian cemetery in Van was destroyed.
According to the report, the Turkish government often continues construction that threatens cemeteries. For example, in March 2021, opposition deputy Garo Paylan, who has Armenian roots, submitted a parliamentary question to learn why the government had not halted construction of a state bank in Ankara’s historic center on the site of an Armenian cemetery. In April 2021, in response to Paylan’s application regarding the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide victims, deputy Ümit Özdağ threatened: “You too will have the Talaat Pasha experience.”
