Azernews.Az

ANKARA – A monument devoted to Turkey-Armenia "friendship" located in the Turkish city of Kars will be demolished, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

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.

Turkey and Armenia have been at odds for decades and their shared border has been shut since 1993 due to Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on a 1915 "genocide". In late 2009, the two governments signed agreements to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. However, Turkey has assured Azerbaijan, its ally, that the protocols will not be ratified until progress is made in resolving the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. In response, Yerevan suspended parliamentary approval of the accords in April 2010.

The Kars province has seen a number of massacres unleashed by Armenians against Turks and Azerbaijanis. Most of the local residents are those who came here in the early 20th century, escaping Armenian reprisals.