While on a visit to Kars January 8, Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan, accompanied by Kars Mayor Nevzat Bozkus, attended the opening ceremony of the illegally constructed hotel Büyük Kale (Big Fortress).

The NTV channel reports that the Kars Mayor admitted the fact that a court ruling orders the top two storeys of the hotel to be removed. Nevzat Bozkus claimed he was not informed of the illegal construction project.

The journalist Oktay Ekinci of Cumhuriyet raised the issue. He pointed out that the two additional storeys made the hotel the most “monstrous” building in Kars.

“Did not Recep Erdogan, who opened the hotel and, on the other hand, wished the demolition of the friendship monument, realize the historic contradiction?” asked the journalist.