The Armenian monastery of Holy Trdat in Tortan village of Turkey’s Erzincan (Yerznka) Province was privatized in name of 16 Muslim residents of this village, News.am reports.

Aziz Dagcı, the head of one of the Armenian associations in Turkey, stated that it is impermissible for the church to be handed over to residents, according to the Turkish news website Aktif Haber.

“It turns out that if the Armenian community wants to perform a Divine Liturgy or other ceremony, it must get permission from these 16 residents of the village,” Dagcı said.

He stressed that by this the Treaty of Lausanne’s provisions on religion and the rights of national minorities are violated.

To note, the remnants of nine saints were kept in the churches located in the area of the Holy Trdat monastic complex.