TheSyriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Turkey (informallyTurkey of the Syriacs) is the presence of theSyriac Catholic Church inTurkey.
It is part of the Syriac Catholic Church, anEastern Catholicparticular church that conducts itsliturgy in theSyriac language and uses theWest Syrian Rite.
It is under the jurisdiction of theSyriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch.
It was established in 1991 asPatriarchal Exarchate of Turkey on territory that previously had no properordinary for theparticular church, which previously administered it as a patriarchal vicariate, whose first vicar was promoted to be the first exarch.
In 2018, the Syriac Catholic community in Istanbul was leased Sacre Coeur Church, in theBeşiktaş district of the city, by the government to use free of charge for the following 49 years. The church was originally built by theJesuits in 1910, but was soon taken into possession by the Turkish state and fell into ruin. In the 1970s the Syriac Catholic community settled in Istanbul and, finding no other church available, used the church. In 1997, the community was originally granted the church for 99 years by theDirectorate General of Foundations, but this was disputed by theMinistry of Treasury and Finance, before being finally approved on 23 July 2018.[1][2]
