The official opening took place on Wednesday morning, February 23, 2022, was accompanied by the Latin Catholic Archbishop of Izmir, Monsignor Martin Kmetec and Tamar Karasu who has been the director of the parent company in Istanbul since 2003, Senior Father Dradt Uzunyan and Father Şahen Uhanyan, representing the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey, James Buxton, Priest of the Anglican Church of Izmir and Pastor Umut Şahin from the Karataş Protestant Church.
While Monsignor Martin was conducting the opening prayer, the bookstore was blessed by the Archbishop after Tamar Karasu read the first part of the Gospel words written by St. John.
Tamar Karasu told the history of the 200-year process of the Bible Company: “We took the year 1820, the arrival date of the American Bible in Istanbul, as a basis. In fact, the first service began in these lands when the representatives of the English Bible came to Izmir in 1818. Since we did not have a presence in Izmir, we took Istanbul as our base, but now I am very happy that we can talk about the date of 1818 because we now have a presence here too. In fact, it existed before, before Kitap-ı Mukaddes, there was the “Söz” Bookstore, the people of Izmir know very well. It was also providing very good service, but it did not last as long as we wanted.”
Söz Bookstore was opened in Alsancak Kıbrıs Şehitleri Caddesi at the end of 1994 and was closed in 2003 when the rent was too high. Since the needs were great, the person in charge took over Kitap-ı Mukaddes and continued alone for many years.
Tamar Karasu: “We always dreamed of this place in İzmir, but there are many difficulties. We must develop something with the whole church, not something we can do alone. We are always planning something, but God is the greatest planner. He truly does many miracles at the right time and in the right way. It all started with the appointment of Monsignor Martin here,” he continued.
“We had planned to open in January 2022, but somehow we had to postpone it and finally, on the occasion of the Feast of St. Polycarp, 23 February was chosen as the opening day,” he said.
Father Drtad, Pastor Şahin and the representative from Evangelische Karmelmission from Germany took the floor briefly at the opening.
On the other hand, the Holy Eucharist Rite was presented by the representatives of the Armenian Orthodox Church Patriarchate in Izmir Saint Polycarp Church the previous morning. According to the Armenian Church calendar, the Saint Ghevotian Martyrs’ Day was celebrated as the feast of the clergy. (SAT-7 TURK/İZMİR-Nathalie Ritzmann)
