Built in 1828, but abandoned 100 years ago, during the conflict between Armenia and the Ottoman Empire, its restoration was part of Istanbul's 2010 European capitol of Culture's heritage and preservation projects.
Yet under the current political air, the re-opening of an Armenian Church has even greater significance. Turkey's current dispute with France over their government's approval of the “Armenian bill” has thrown Turkey's relations with its Armenian population under the spotlight.
Turkey says the deaths of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War 1, was a “fight between two good friends” and to recognize them as otherwise is reactionary.
But Turkish Armenians and 20 countries around the world, including France, don't see it that way.
The killing/murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 by Ogün Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist, shows how fragile that friendship is.
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