While a statue popularly known as the “Monument to Humanity” continues to be demolished, it is now argued that the monument was erected without getting the necessary permission and therefore it would have to be demolished anyway.
The controversy surrounding the statue began after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called it a “monstrosity.” It was erected to commemorate the Ottoman soldiers who froze to death 96 years ago during a military operation against Russia. The “Monument to Humanity” is also meant to symbolize the friendship between Turkey and Armenia.
The Kars Municipality’s lawyer, Ağca Baştimar, states that most sites of historical interest in Kars belong to the Treasury, adding: “Though the issue has been discussed from many different aspects, a fact is being overlooked. The then-municipality that allowed the erection of the statue wrote to the relevant authorities [for permission]; however, they started construction before receiving a reply.”
The municipal council in Kars earlier decided to demolish the statue and the demolition began in mid-April. The demolition is expected to be completed in a month. The municipality plans to open a park for the province’s residents in lieu of the statue after getting the necessary permission.
Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman, lawyer Baştimar said anything erected on Treasury land without the necessary permission would definitely be demolished even if the structure belonged to a municipality. Recalling that the Treasury is a legal entity like a municipality, Baştimar argued that it is wrong to attribute the demolition to the prime minister and discussions on its “monstrosity.”
While noting that the legal process to demolish the statue started in 2010, Baştimar continued: “The structure defined as the ‘Monument to Humanity’ is an unlicensed construction in terms of administrative law. The procedure applied to unlicensed constructions is being implemented for this statue as well. Since it was erected without permission from administrative bodies, the legal process has been put into operation; the decision made by the municipal council is valid. The last decision taken by an administrative court in line with the municipal decision is to the point as well. Decisions taken by administrative courts are valid from the moment of the decision and they are to be enforced quickly.”
The story of the controversial statue goes back as far as 2006. The municipal council at the time wanted to have a monument symbolizing peace and kinship and it went out to tender in 2006. A piece of Treasury land was found for the statue. As part of an urban transformation project, the Treasury was asked for the land to make a park. However, construction started before receiving a response from the Treasury. Upon objections, the Supreme Council of Monuments stopped the construction of the statue in 2008 and questions over the land’s being a historic and protected area also arose. In addition, the Treasury rejected the erection of the statue and informed the Supreme Council of Monuments that the giant statue would change the profile of the city.
In other words, a statue that Kars has been discussing for years came to the public’s attention nationally and internationally after Erdoğan made the “monstrosity” comment about it. The media reports created the impression that the monument was being demolished because of Erdoğan’s words, as the final decision to demolish the monument came three days after the prime minister’s comment.
In addition to questions regarding the land and artistic merits of the statue, the “Monument to Humanity” also raises political questions due to it connection to Armenia. Former Kars Mayor Naif Alibeyoğlu, who approved the construction of the statue, says they built the monument as a response to genocide claims. Alibeyoğlu was a member of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) at the time of the decision, but was later dismissed from the party. Some opposition circles led by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) interpreted the construction of the monument as an AK Party Armenian initiative.
Once the Supreme Council of Monuments decided to stop the construction, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay supported reversal of the decision to stop construction but abided by the council’s ruling.
In the meantime, sculptor Mehmet Aksoy and his lawyers went to court to challenge the decision to stop the erection of the statue. The administrative court asked for the defense from the current Kars municipality regarding the reason for their demand to stop construction. Baştimar said they submitted their defense to the court 10 days later. “Our defense reached them on the 11th day and the Erzurum Administrative Court ruled for a stay of execution [of the decision to stop the construction]. We objected to the court ruling. A regional administrative court gave a decision in favor of our demand in two days. Some circles criticize the regional court for deciding in two days but they don’t say anything about the one-day decision of the [Erzurum] administrative court,” he said.
The demolition of the statue is still under way. The company that won the tender to pull it down aims to complete the demolition by May 20, when the prime minister is set to visit the city as part of his election campaign.
Ali Aslan Kılıç - Today’s Zaman
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