Ankara's firm to its decision: Statue of Humanity will be dismantled

Turkey has reached an official decision to dismantle the Monument of Peace and Humanity located in Kars, north-eastern Turkey, symbolizing the friendship between Armenia-Turkey.

According to Turkish media reports, the issue was brought to the agenda of a municipality meeting in Kars with only four members, out of 23 attending the meeting, voting against the move.

Eleven members from the ruling Justice and Development party, or AKP, and eight members from the Nationalistic Movement party voted for the decision.

"The process has started. The statue will be dismantled by dividing it into parts," Kars Mayor Nevzat Bozkus, said. "A tender will be announced for the dismantlement of the statue to find out which company will do that work."

Relations between Armenia and Turkey took a major step forward on October 10, 2009 when Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu signed protocols in Switzerland to establish diplomatic relations and develop bilateral relations.

However, in April 2010 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree putting a hold on the ratification, saying Turkey was not ready to continue the reconciliation process.

Nevzat Bozkus also said that the dismantlement will start already next month given there are the results of the tender.

The decision comes after widespread rumors and reports about Turkey's intentions to demolish the monument.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minsiter Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the statue as "freakish".

"I know a thing or two about sculptures. You do not have to hold a degree in fine arts in order to admire a work of art," he had said during a visit to Qatar.

"I warned the mayor when the monument was being erected. As a matter of fact, the Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board has decided to tear down the monument. It is the mayor's responsibility to implement the decision. Those who talk today have no respect for art, and they're trying to give us a lesson in art. They say it themselves, there are thousands of Ataturk monuments, and only five or 10 of them have artistic value."