Epress.am News from Armenia
Prominent Turkish painter Bedri Baykam was stabbed yesterday after attending a meeting at Istanbul’s Besiktas Akatlar Cultural Center to support Mehmet Aksoy, sculptor of the infamous Monument to Humanity in Kars.
The giant monument to friendship between Turkey and Armenia in Kars became a symbol of controversy after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called it a “monstrosity” (or “freakish”), prompting motions to have it removed. A company has recently initiated the process to pull down the massive statue. Sculptor Mehmet Aksoy had said that the statue was a symbol of peace, conveying anti-war messages, reports Today’s Zaman.
Baykam, along with other artists, was preparing to organize a protest march on Apr. 23 to Kars against plans to remove a statue in eastern Turkey.
“Erdogan is not just destroying the monument, he is destroying the democratic movement,” Baykam said, according to our Istanbul correspondent.
Art director Tuba Kurtulmuş, who was with Baykam, was also stabbed and both of them were taken to Maslak Acıbadem Hospital.
Their assailant, who was reportedly wearing a black coat and blue jeans, fled the scene in a car. The police were searching for the attacker when Today’s Zaman went to print. In the meantime, Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay called the hospital, asking about Baykam’s condition and he conveyed wishes for the artist’s speedy recovery to his family.
Though Baykam is in support of the monument, he is known in Turkey as a radical Kemalist and nationalist and often organizes demonstrations in line with his views. According to experts, he is in fact fighting against Erdoğan and the Turkish government.