İnsanlık Abidesi

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İnsanlık Abidesi (2011)

The İnsanlık Abidesi ( German humanity monument) was a sculpture built in 2006 and demolished again in 2011 by the Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy in the eastern Turkish city of Kars . The memorial was created as a reaction to monuments that unilaterally commemorate either the murdered Turks or Armenians .

The monument stood for peace and brotherhood. It was 30 meters high and showed a human being split in two, symbolizing the human conscience.

Artist's intention

Aksoy also interpreted his sculpture as a response to the 43.5-meter-high monument with the associated museum Iğdır Soykırım Anıt-Müzesi in Iğdır :

“My memorial is therefore caught between the nationalist shrine and the memorial to the victims of the genocide in Yerevan, on the other side of the border. That was the challenge for me. "

According to Mehmet Aksoy, the sculpture symbolized a divided human being who had been made an enemy of his divided counterpart. By this he meant Turks and Armenians . One of these people became aware of the historically irreconcilable situation and held out his hand to his counterpart. This hand symbolizes the invitation to humanity. Aksoy explains the choice of the location of the sculpture with the fact that at the site of the Battle of Sarıkamış , in which 90,000 people died, it is possible to recognize the inhumanity of the war.

demolition

After the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the work in a public address in early 2011 and described it as a “monstrosity” and “strange thing”, it was decided to demolish the sculpture. At Erdoğan's order, the demolition of the artwork began at the end of April 2011. Aksoy brought an action against the demolition notice before the competent court in Erzurum . The responsible judge issued an injunction against the decision. The lawsuit was challenged by members of the Kars City Council and the judge responsible was changed.

Aksoy then appealed against the demolition of the monument to the European Court of Human Rights . Aksoy compared the action to the destruction of the Buddha statues in Bamiyan by the Taliban . The EU disapproved of the action; she spoke openly of a " censorship of art".

In June 2011, the last stones from the demolished monument were removed. The city administration of Kars announced that a new sculpture will be built on the site of the demolished monument. She should show a piece of cheese and honey.

See also

Web links

Commons : Statue of Humanity  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Günay'dan 'İnsanlık Anıtı' açıklaması. In: Hürriyet . January 10, 2011, accessed February 4, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Karen Krüger: Turkish absurdities: cheese and honey instead of genocide. In: FAZ. June 19, 2011, accessed March 5, 2015 .

Coordinates: 40 ° 36 '38.7 "  N , 43 ° 5' 10.1"  E