Monument to Humanity
ADDPMP713The Monument to Humanity is a 30m (98ft)-tall statue depicting two halves of a man, each reaching to hold the other’s hand. It was commissioned by the Kars municipality as a gesture of reconciliation in Armenia–Turkey relations following the Zurich Protocols, a 2009 accord to establish formal diplomatic recognition between the two countries. However, in January 2011, during a visit to Kars, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the monument as a “freak” and a “monstrosity”. In spite of protests, the city authority decided to remove the statue: on 26 April 2011, the sculpture’s two heads were dismounted. The demolition was completed on 14 June 2011. While Erdoğan insisted that this was merely a question of aesthetics, international observers believed the demolition an attempt to appeal to nationalist sentiment ahead of the 2011 general election.














































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































