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ANKARA: Russian Border Guard Shot At Turkish Shepherd Who Crossed In

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  • ANKARA: Russian Border Guard Shot At Turkish Shepherd Who Crossed In

    RUSSIAN BORDER GUARD SHOT AT TURKISH SHEPHERD WHO CROSSED INTO ARMENIAN BORDER

    Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
    Aug 2 2013

    ANKARA

    The 35-year-old shepherd, Mustafa Ulker, crossed over to the Armenian
    side of the border to retrieve a lost sheep and was shot dead. AA photo

    The 35-year-old shepherd, Mustafa Ulker, crossed over to the Armenian
    side of the border to retrieve a lost sheep and was shot dead. AA photo
    A Turkish shepherd who crossed the border into Armenia opened fire at
    Russian frontier guards, who responded by returning the fire, Sergey
    Grechin, from the Russian Border Department of the Federal Security
    Service, has said, according to the Russian Itar Tass news agency.

    "It was a Russian border guard unit that was involved in the incident,"
    a senior official in the Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed, along
    with a second source in the Armenian Defense Ministry.

    Russian troops protect Armenia's borders with Turkey and Iran, in
    compliance with the agreement concluded between Moscow and Yerevan
    in 1992.

    The Turkish Foreign Ministry had sent a diplomatic note to Yerevan
    condemning Armenia for using "disproportionate force" after the
    incident.

    The note, sent through Turkey's embassy in Tbilisi as Ankara has no
    diplomatic ties with Armenia, explained how and why the Turkish
    national had illegally crossed into Armenia, and demanded an
    explanation for why "disproportionate force" was used to kill him.

    The 35-year-old shepherd, Mustafa Ulker, crossed over to the Armenian
    side of the border to retrieve a lost sheep and was shot dead by
    Armenian soldiers patrolling the border, Kars Governor Eyup Tepe said
    on Aug. 1.

    Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity
    with Azerbaijan, after Armenia occupied Azerbaijani lands in the
    Nagorno-Karabakh War.

    "We strongly condemn the shooting of an innocent citizen for a simple
    border infringement apparently made very innocently," the Turkish
    Foreign Ministry said in its statement on Aug. 1. It also called
    on Armenia to act with restraint to avoid another tragic incident
    similar to the death of the shepherd.

    Armenia used disproportionate force by killing an unarmed civilian
    while ignoring the fact that such a crossing did not pose any threat
    to the national security of the country, said the statement.

    The ministry statement also said that all necessary diplomatic steps
    would be taken, and the incident yet again highlighted the need for
    common sense in Armenia's relations with neighbors for normalization
    and sustainable peace in the volatile region.

    "This sort of development shows the need for a complete, sustainable
    and comprehensive normalization process in the South Caucasus region,"
    the statement read.

    August/02/2013

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/russian-border-guard-shot-at-turkish-shepherd-who-crossed-into-armenian-border-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=51923&NewsCatID=355



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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