Refusing the hand of friendship

High on a hill overlooking the city of Kars, there is a vast column of concrete obscured by wooden scaffolding.  

The hand of friendship has yet to be proffered, let alone accepted

What is inside was meant as a 32m (100ft) peace gesture from Turkey to Armenia.

“It’s an image of two human figures, facing one another with a hand of friendship held out between them,” explains the security guard, emerging from the portable building at the statue’s feet.

But on the day the finished project should have been unveiled its giant hand stands severed on the hillside.

This friendship statue has enemies, and they have forced construction to stop.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Refusing the hand of friendship