The Provincial Hall of Tunceli province in Turkey has dismantled the memorial dedicated to the Armenian national hero Monte Melkonyan and other heroes of the Armenian liberation war, Ermenihaber reported, citing Turkish media outlets.
The statute, located in the eastern Turkish province of Tunceli, was unveiled on April 26, 2016 and brought to the spotlight by Turkish “Sozcu” newspaper columnist Sayg Ozturk. who along with number of Turkish nationalists were outraged by the fact of erecting a monument on Turkish soil to honor Armenian heroes.
They came up with a petition asking the Provincial Hall for the demolition of the statute that was adopted.
Along with Monte Melkonyan, names of Gevorg Chaush, Armenak Bakrjyan, Manuel Demir, Nubar Yanikyan, Andranik Ozanyan are also written on the memorial.
“We condemn the Armenian Genocide. We pay tribute to memory of Armenak Bakrjyan and Hrant Dink. The Armenian Genocide continues even 100 years later,” the inscription on the memorial read.