Azernews.Az

ANKARA – A municipality in Turkey has ordered to demolish a monument to "friendship" with Armenia.

During a vote at the Kars municipality’s steering body on Tuesday, 11 members of the ruling AKP party and 8 representatives of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supported the decision, while 4 members of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Turkey’s main opposition bloc, opposed the measure.

Kars mayor Nevzat Bozkus said a tender will be announced to begin the demolition work soon.

Construction of the Monument to Humanity began in 2008 but was later suspended.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered to take down the monument during a recent visit to Kars, calling it "ugly" and contradictory to the proper architectural style.

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.