Demolition work on Kars’ Monument to Humanity, a peace sculpture described as “freakish” by the prime minister in January, will begin within 15 days, according to the local municipality.
“The demolition work will be launched in about 15 days. The monument will be cut to pieces and then removed,” Kars Mayor Nevzat Bozkuş said, according to a report by independent news portal bianet.org.
The area where the monument currently stands will be handed over to the National Real Estate Directorate after some environmental procedures are performed.
“If [sculptor Mehmet Aksoy] wants to have the parts [of his monument] back, we can give them back,” Bozkuş said.
A tender for the demolition was launched March 7 and was won by Avçin İnşaat, a Turkish construction firm, which will demolish the monument for 272,000 Turkish Liras.
The municipality also agreed to pay Aksoy 350,000 liras, but the sculptor said the municipality only paid him 120,000 liras. But Bozkuş said the contract concluded between the former mayor and the artist was invalid.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sparked controversy on the monument during a visit to the eastern province earlier this year when he said the monument, which is placed on a high hill overlooking the city, was both “freakish” and threatened to overshadow historical locations such as the Seyyid Hasal El Harakani tomb and mosque.
After the prime minister ordered the sculpture’s demolition, Kars’ municipal assembly passed a motion to tear down the monument, saying it had been illegally erected in a protected area.
The unfinished monument, which depicts two figures meeting, is 35 meters tall, weighs 300 tons and is meant to represent efforts to foster friendship between the Turkish and Armenian peoples. Aksoy had planned for one of the figures to shed a tear in regret while the other extended its hand in reconciliation.
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