The Armenian church of Bayindir district in Turkey’s Izmir province has been turned into a warehouse after renovation, Ermenihaber.am reports citing Turkish Yeniasir news portal.

According to the chief of ruling AK Party’s regional office in Bayindir, Ugur Demirezen, the regional authorities, with Republican People’s Party (CHP) member Ufuk Melsi as their head, have turned the church into a warehouse themselves.

“Instead of opening a cultural center, they are using the church as a cardboard warehouse,” Demirezen noted, adding that the church, built in 1857, was turned into a cinema house after the proclamation of the republic.

In 2010, Izmir provincial administration and Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism renovated the church to later use it as a cultural center.

Around $350.000 was spent on the restoration, supervised by Bayindir ex-governor Mehmet Kertis, a ruling party representative.