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 Naif Alibeyoglu said.

Students of Department of Journalism at Marmara University met with former Mayor Naif Alibeyoglu during his visit to Kars. During the meeting, the students talked about a monument of the Armenian-Turkish friendship, branded as “monstrous” by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Eerdogan, euractiv website reports.

Alibeyoglu stressed that nobody objected to the idea of creating the monument. “The decision was made at the meeting of the city council. Even the representatives of the “Nationalist Movement Party” did not object to the idea. We met with Mehmet Aksol, explained him the task and he agreed,” Alibeyoglu said.

He noted that the decision on removing the monument was made at the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s request. “Turkey has an oil and gas dependence on Azerbaijan. This is the only reason for demolition,” he emphasized.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported previously, City Council of Kars decided by a majority vote to demolish the monument dedicated to the Armenian-Turkish friendship, branded by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “monstrous”.

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.