MARDIN - The appointed trustee of Kızıltepe Municipality in Mardin province, who had removed the Statue of Uğur Kaymaz, a 12-year-old child killed by police with 13 bullets in Mardin, 2004, and replaced the statue with a clock tower, have now put the camel and donkey figures to the Mardin highway and claims these figures are “aesthetic”.

 

Ahmet Odabaşı, who removed the Statue of Uğur Kaymaz, a 12-year-old child killed by police with 13 bullets in Mardin, 2004, just after he was appointed as a trustee to the Kızıltepe Municipality of Mardin province, then changed the name of the Kurdish institutions. The trustee replaced the statue on the Mardin-Kızıltepe highway with the camel and donkey figures.

 

Odabaşı claims that the clock tower and spikes that they put instead of the Statue of Uğur Kaymaz have provided “a visual wealth” while the camel figures remind the historical Silkroad. Claiming that Kızıltepe is much more “aesthetic” in that way, the appointed trustee’s work was criticized by the citizens, “We thought they are dinosaurs figures, not camels. Instead of expensing the municipal budget for these things, they should give aid to people, they should assure the peace in the district. Or instead of camels, they could plant trees or flowers”.