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Blog: Antioch in Ruins: An Interview with Arie Amaya-Akkermans Joel Christensen Wed, 03/15/2023 - 10:58

Like many of us, I have been following the aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria with dismay — there’s no real way to comprehend the scale of destruction and loss of life in the region. To make matters worse, reporting in US media has been limited, and the information coming out of the region has been limited by the obstacles of the chaos and the responses of the regional governments. We all know that the situation in the region is bad; what we understand less is that this is a generational devastation and the political structures are likely making it worse.

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The inside of a church filled with debris and broken pews. An altar is still visible standing in an apse at the front.
Destroyed church of St. Ilyas, in Samandag, after the night of February 20th. Photo credit: Arie Amaya-Akkermans.

JC: What is the status of ancient heritage sites and museums in Antioch?

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The remains of destroyed buildings
Samandag streets, freshly destroyed buildings after February 20. Photo credit: Arie Ammaya-Akkermans.

JC: Modern Antioch is a place in Turkey where minorities were traditionally safe and thriving. How are these communities threatened by the earthquake and the aftermath?