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Turkey begins dismantling monument

Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:05 AM EDT
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Associated Press
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ANKARA — Workers have begun dismantling a giant sculpture meant to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.

Television footage on Tuesday showed a crane bringing down one of the two heads of the 35-meter (115-foot) stone sculpture which features a divided human figure, near the two nations' border.

The hulking monument had been criticized in Turkey because it overshadows an Islamic shrine in the area. During a visit to the site in January, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it a "freak," prompting moves by local officials to have it removed.

Artists campaigned unsuccessfully to save the monument. A prominent painter was stabbed and hospitalized last week after a speech in which he condemned plans to tear it down.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Mr10Man

Turkey killed hundreds of thousands of Armenians between 1915 and 1918 during World War I yet rejects the claim it was genocide "because atrocities were committed on both sides".

I guess that makes it all better huh? Timmy hit me first mom, yes Peter, but two wrongs don't make a right!

We can build all the monuments we want in the name of peace but we cannot erase generations of hatred.

Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Burma, Cambodia, Croatia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Gaza, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Nauru, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Somalia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Untied States, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe can attest to that.

Sad but true.

    Reply#1 - Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:55 PM EDT
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