Erzrum court issued a stay of execution on a municipal decision to demolish a Monument to Humanity symbolizing Turkey-Armenia friendship. The statue in the eastern province of Kars had once been called a “monstrosity” by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Asli Kazan, a lawyer for Mehmet Aksoy, the artist who made the statue, titled the Monument to Humanity, announced that the Erzurum 1st Administrative Court had issued a stay of execution on the resolution to bring the monument down, which was ordered by the Kars Municipal Council. In related developments, the Kars Municipality has opened a tender for the destruction of the statue. Six companies are competing in the tender. The estimated cost of the demolishment was set at TL 381,500 by the municipality. The best bidder was Gensa Construction, which proposed to get the job done for TL 225,000, but the official result has not yet been announced.

Last year, Erdogan referred to the statue as a “monstrosity,” causing a major controversy, Today’s Zaman reported.