Turkey has confiscated 50 properties of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

The church was deprived of dozens of churches, monasteries and cemeteries over claims the ownership deeds had lapsed, The Daily Mail reported.

The church leaders said two monasteries built 1500 years ago have been confiscated.

The fears of the church deepened after appeal against the confiscation on behalf of the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel in southeastern Turkey was rejected.

Turkish land officials redrew the boundaries around Mor Gabriel and other villages in 2008 to update a national land registry. As a result many lands owned by the monastery were attributed to the villages.