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ARMENIA SENDS CONDOLENCES OVER TURKISH SHEPHERD KILLING
Agence France Presse
August 2, 2013 Friday 4:06 PM GMT
YEREVAN, Aug 02 2013
Armenia on Friday sent its condolences to arch-foe Turkey after
a Turkish shepherd was shot dead on the sealed border between the
two countries.
"The interior ministry of Armenia sent a note to the Turkish side
expressing its condolences over this incident and hope that such
events will not happen again," the interior ministry said.
Authorities in Turkey on Thursday blamed Armenian borderguards for
the incident and chided Yerevan for using "disproportionate force",
Turkish media reported.
The shepherd identified as Mustafa Ulker, 35, was grazing cattle in
the eastern town of Akyaka and went to the border after one of the
animals crossed, the Turkish reports said.
Russian state news agency Itar Tass reported however that initial
investigations suggested Russian borderguards-- stationed in Armenia
since the collapse of the Soviet Union-- shot Ulker after he opened
fire on them.
Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties. Ankara closed the border
in 1993 in solidarity with its regional ally Azerbaijan over the
disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.
The two countries remain deeply at odds over the mass killings of
Armenians during the Ottoman Empire, which Armenia says was genocide.
Agence France Presse
August 2, 2013 Friday 4:06 PM GMT
YEREVAN, Aug 02 2013
Armenia on Friday sent its condolences to arch-foe Turkey after
a Turkish shepherd was shot dead on the sealed border between the
two countries.
"The interior ministry of Armenia sent a note to the Turkish side
expressing its condolences over this incident and hope that such
events will not happen again," the interior ministry said.
Authorities in Turkey on Thursday blamed Armenian borderguards for
the incident and chided Yerevan for using "disproportionate force",
Turkish media reported.
The shepherd identified as Mustafa Ulker, 35, was grazing cattle in
the eastern town of Akyaka and went to the border after one of the
animals crossed, the Turkish reports said.
Russian state news agency Itar Tass reported however that initial
investigations suggested Russian borderguards-- stationed in Armenia
since the collapse of the Soviet Union-- shot Ulker after he opened
fire on them.
Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties. Ankara closed the border
in 1993 in solidarity with its regional ally Azerbaijan over the
disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.
The two countries remain deeply at odds over the mass killings of
Armenians during the Ottoman Empire, which Armenia says was genocide.