news.am, Armenia
April 2 2011
Azerbaijanis lay black wreath at monument to Armenian-Turkish friendship
April 02, 2011 | 12:02
Representatives of Azerbaijani NGOs held a protest action on Friday
near the monument to Armenian-Turkish friendship in the city of Kars,
Turkey.
The protest was initiated by Azerbaijani International Diaspora
Center, 1news.az website reports referring to Turkish media.
Head of the center Ismail Agayev said `such an ugly monument’ must not
stand in the territory of Turkey. Protestors also laid a black wreath
at the monument.
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’.
The monument was built on the initiative of former Kars mayor Naif Alibeyoglu.
Alibeyoglu once said 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.
From: A. Papazian