In the 2000s, it was renovated in part as a sign of reconciliation by local leaders with the Christian community. The restoration process began in 2009 with the creation of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation, formed by Armenians residents in Istanbul, which oversaw the management and funding of the project. Financial support came from the international Armenian diaspora and from the local political authorities in Diyarbakir. The church was reopened on 23 October 2011Armenian Surp Giragos Church ready for Holy Mass, Ararat News & Publishing, 18 September 2011 as "Turkey’s first church to be revived as a permanent place of worship".https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21583981-turkish-armenians-are-beginning-celebrateand-commemoratetheir-past-ashes Armenian culture in Turkey: From the ashes The church was reconsecrated on this occasion by Armenian Archbishop Aram Ateşyan. In 2013 the church was attracting hundreds of people per day; according to Gafur Turkay of the Surp Giragos Foundation, "Many of them are Islamised Armenians like me."https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21583981-turkish-armenians-are-beginning-celebrateand-commemoratetheir-past-ashes Armenian culture in Turkey: From the ashes
