Baghdad restores Armenian Church after 70-year wait

hafaq News – Baghdad

Saint Krikor Armenian Orthodox Church in central Baghdad reopened on Sunday after its first major restoration since 1957.

The renovation included extensive maintenance and repairs aimed at reviving one of Baghdad’s key religious and cultural landmarks.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani attended the reopening, describing the restoration as a symbol of Iraq’s diversity and coexistence, and a step toward preserving the city’s cultural and architectural heritage.

In a statement from the PM’s media office, Al-Sudani also referred to the church as a witness to the civilians who lost their lives in terrorist attacks, noting that Iraq has emerged “victorious and united” from the fight against terrorism and is moving forward with reconstruction and development.

Demonstrating the government’s commitment to maintaining Baghdad’s historic sites, he added that work will continue across the city’s old districts.

Armenian Orthodox is one of several sects forming Iraq’s Christian community. Before the 2003 war, Christians—mostly Chaldean Catholics, Assyrians, and Syriac Orthodox—numbered between 1.2 and 1.5 million, concentrated in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, and northern towns across the Nineveh Plain. Over the past two decades, their population has fallen to under 250,000, according to church and humanitarian estimates.