Azerbaijani flag hoisted on ruins of reconciliation
The flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey were hoisted today in the place of a recently demolished monument in Kars that symbolized Turkish-Armenian friendship.
According to Azerbaijani news agencies, representatives of Azerbaijani Diaspora, intelligentsia and mass media arrived in Kars to participate in the event dated to the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence.
The event was organized by the Azerbaijani Consulate in Kars and the International Center for Azerbaijani Diaspora.
The monument was commissioned as a gesture of reconciliation, as Turkey and Armenia began attempts to repair relations after a century of hostility. But that process stalled last year and there have been a number of objections to the monument.
The work called the Statue of Humanity towered over the city of Kars - with two 30m-high sculptures representing a divided human.
At the initiative of Kars Mayor Naif Alibeyoglu, the monument was demolished in April 2011 after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the monument as an affront to the nearby shrine of Hasan Harakani during his visit to Kars.
"They have put a freak near the shrine," Erdogan was quoted as saying in Hurriyet newspaper. "They have erected something weird."
He reportedly urged the local mayor to knock down the statue and create a park in its place.
On the same day, on October 10, 2009, Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers signed protocols to normalize bilateral ties and open the closed border between the two countries. However, neither of the countries has ratified the protocols to date.
