Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan's ruling party welcomes the decision by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to dismantle the monument to the Turkish-Armenian friendship in Kars.

"Erdogan's decision to dismantle the monument to the Turkish-Armenian friendship in Kars is commendable. Dismantling this monument is quite logical. This decision reflects the reality and is completely legal," deputy executive secretary of New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) Mubariz Gurbanli said in an interview to the party's website.

According to him, the existence of such a monument does not mean anything other than the moral justification of the occupation policy of the Armenians.

"Some circles in Kars believe that opening the border with Armenia will bring economic benefits to Turkey and the region. But this is ridiculous. Armenia's economy is backward, and carrying out trade with Armenia, the border regions of Turkey would receive a tiny profit. There is no significance of trade with Armenia, whose state treasury is empty, and population is poor. The influential circles in Turkey are well aware of it," he added.

Erdogan ordered to take down the Monument to Humanity during a visit to Kars on Saturday, calling it "ugly".

The memorial was built in 2008 during the tenure of the city’s pro-Armenian former mayor Naif Alibeyoglu. The 30-meter statue, erected on a hill 40 km away from Turkey’s border with Armenia, shows two figures reaching out for each other.