By the decision of the local self-government bodies of the Tuzluca district (historically Armenian Koghb district) of Igdir province of Turkey, the Armenian version (“Բարի եկաք” and “Ցտեսություն”) of the inscriptions in four languages (Armenian, Kurdish, English and Turkish) on the arch near the entrance to and exit from the district has been removed, as reported Anadolu news agency, according to Ermenihaber.am.

The Armenian letters were placed on the arch in September 2015. The locals and non-governmental organizations caused uproar and complained, after which the Municipality of Tuzluca decided to demolish the inscriptions.

In October 2015, anonymous people vandalized the Armenian letters on the arch, particularly the letters of the Armenian word “Ցտեսություն”. One of the mayors of Tuzluca, Mehmet Gultekin, made a statement on that.

“Tuzluca was an Armenian residence before the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. The names of many places here are in Armenian. The Armenian people of Tuzluca have made great contributions to the construction of the district. We added the Armenian inscriptions as tribute to all that.”