YEREVAN. – Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to gain votes of ethnic Azerbaijanis, residents of Kars, ahead of parliamentary elections.

This is the reason the monument to Armenia-Turkey friendship was demolished, expert in Turkish studies Ruben Melkonyan said at a press conference on Monday.

“With approaching election nationalist rhetoric becomes stronger. Demolition of the monument will definitely help gain votes of the local Azerbaijanis,” he said.

According to him, dismantlement of the monument reflects current state of Armenia-Turkey relations: all “angles of contact” which could be the basis for normalization are destroyed.

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 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.