French Church (Bursa)
The historic French Church ( Turkish Fransız Kilisesi Kültür Evi or Bursa Protestan Kilisesi ) is the last active church in the city of Bursa and was built by the city's Levantine Christian community before the 1880s . In 2016 the Turkish state decided to evacuate and close the church.
The Protestant church is located in the historic Osmangazi district and was built according to a Gothic-neoclassical plan with a nave . It has towers on the outer wall and pointed arch windows in the main building. In 1960 the church was closed once and used as a warehouse for a time. From 2002 to 2004 the church was restored and made available to Christians in Bursas for worship. The church was used simultaneously by the city's German , Catholic and Orthodox communities. The Protestant pastor of the church is İsmail Kulaçoğlu.
The license agreement for the church expired in 2015, and the State Foundation Directorate ( Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü ), which administers the church, asked the congregation to set up a "company". Although this was done according to Kulaçoğlu, in 2016 the state asked for the evacuation of the church and the handover by telephone without warning or written notice.
According to the authority, the church should continue to be available to the community for worship services. It is not about the use, but about property issues.
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- Fransız Kilisesi Kültür Evi. Retrieved February 29, 2016 .
- Official website of the Protestant parish. Retrieved February 29, 2016 .
- Turkey: Christians expelled from Bursa's only church. Retrieved February 29, 2016 .
Coordinates: 40 ° 10 ′ 49.4 ″ N , 29 ° 3 ′ 57.6 ″ E