A protest action was held against demolition of “Monument to Humanity” dedicated to Armenian-Turkish friendship in Kars.

When employees of Afshine construction company, assigned to dismantle the monument, began studying it for demolition, local residents protested and children threw stones at them, calling “We will not allow to destroy the monument.”

The officers of the company immediately called the police, who warned local residents not to hinder demolition works, Atili website reports.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, during his visit to Kars, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the monument to Armenia-Turkey  friendship “monstrous” and ordered to demolish it.

Former Mayor of Kars Naif Alibeyoglu has always stood for the opening of the Armenia-Turkey border without any preconditions and for this purpose organized a collection of signature in Kars. On his initiative, a large monument was put to represent the Armenian-Turkish friendship and peace. However, Alibeyoglu was defeated in the mayoral elections in 2009. The unfinished monument was put near the old Armenian district of Kars.

“The decision to demolish the monument to the Armenian-Turkish friendship was made at the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s request, former Mayor of Kars city,” Alibeyoglu said. “Turkey has an oil and gas dependence on Azerbaijan. This is the only reason for demolition.”