Liberation Mosque

{{Short description|Mosque in Şahinbey, Turkey}}

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Liberation Mosque

| native_name = Kurtuluş Camii

| native_name_lang = tr

| image = Kurtuluş camii-Aziz Gregor Ermeni Kilisesi-Gaziantep - panoramio.jpg

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| caption = Liberation Mosque in May 2009

| religious_affiliation = Islam, originally Christianity

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| location = Şahinbey, Gaziantep Province, Turkey

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| architect = Sarkis Balyan

| architecture_type = mosque

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| established = 1986 (as mosque)

| groundbreaking = 1892

| year_completed = 1893

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}}

Liberation Mosque ({{langx|tr|Kurtuluş Camii}}), formerly the St. Mary's Cathedral or Holy Mother of God Church ({{langx|hy|Սուրբ Աստուածածին Եկեղեցի|Surp Asdvazdadzin Egeghetsʿi}}), is located in the Tepebaşı district of Şahinbey, Gaziantep in Turkey.{{cite news |last=Korucu |first=Serdar |date=24 June 2017 |title=Antep'te 'Kilise Olarak Yapılan Cami': Kurtuluş Camii |trans-title='The Mosque Built as a Church' in Antep: Kurtuluş Mosque |url=https://bianet.org/biamag/azinliklar/187713-antep-te-kilise-olarak-yapilan-cami-kurtulus-camii |work=Biamag |language=tr |location=Istanbul |agency=Bianet |access-date=11 February 2023}}{{Cite web|last=Fisk|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Fisk|date=2016-10-15|title=A beautiful mosque and the dark period of the Armenian genocide|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/turkey-gaziantep-armenian-genocide-a7362771.html|access-date=2021-01-26|work=The Independent}} Initially built as an Armenian Apostolic church, it was converted into a stable after the Armenian genocide; and later, into a jail. Sarkis Balyan—the Ottoman-Armenian architect serving Sultan Abdul Hamid II—designed the church. The building was constructed between 1892 and 1893, undertaken by the stonemason Sarkis Taşçıyan.Thomas A. Sinclair: Eastern Turkey. An Architectural and Archaeological Survey. volume 4. The Pindar Press, London 1990, p. 111 The church was part of a complex which also contained a school and the administrative buildings of the dioceses of the kaza of Antep.Osman Koker, "Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago", Istanbul 2005, p267.

File:Gaziantep armenian church.jpg

In 1915, almost all of the Gaziantep Armenians were deported to the Syrian desert during the genocide.{{cite book |last=Akçam |first=Taner |author-link=Taner Akçam |title=The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity the Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire |year=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton|isbn=978-1400841844|page=256}} The church was sealed on 22 August 1915; and its sacramentals and furnishings were put in a large stable, then they were bought and sold at an auction. For over three years the cathedral was used by government for military purposes. Next, it was turned into a prison in the early 1920s; and served as such until the 1970s.{{cite book|last1=Ungor|first1=Ugur|last2=Polatel|first2=Mehmet|title=Confiscation and Destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property|date=2011|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1441130556|page=82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=06K7KM4s-wgC}}

The building was converted into a mosque in 1986. The top half of the bell tower was demolished, the remainder converted into a single-balcony minaret. The bell, which was cast in the 19th century in South America, was taken to Gaziantep Museum.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

After renovation, the mosque reopened on 17 June 2017.

File:Damage in Kurtuluş Mosque after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey.jpg

During the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, its dome and minarets collapsed.{{cite web |last1=Boncuk |first1=Mehmet |title=Tarihi cami depremde hasar gördü |url=https://www.sabah.com.tr/gaziantep/2023/02/06/tarihi-cami-depremde-hasar-gordu |website=Sabah |access-date=8 February 2023}}