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Thirty-five-year-old Turkish shepherd Mustafa Ülker, who crossed to the Armenian side of the border to retrieve a lost sheep, was shot dead by Armenian soldiers patrolling the border, Kars Governor Eyüp Tepe said on Thursday.
Ülker illegally crossed into Armenia from the Arpaçay district of Kars on Wednesday when he realized that a sheep from his herd had crossed the border. According to reports, Armenian soldiers opened fire on the shepherd without giving a warning.
The Armenian side wants to return the body. Our brigade's assistant commander and the district governor are at the border. We will most likely receive our citizen's body through the east gate. We could say that there was excessive use of force involved considering that he [Ülker] did not have a gun in his hands, said Tepe.
We are continuing to have talks with Armenian officials. This [shooting incident] is one the problems that we sometimes face at our borders, added Tepe.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan after the Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan in 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 2009, the Zurich Protocols were signed between Armenia and Turkey to normalize relations; however, the move did not bear fruit as the border remains closed.
The mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans in 1915, referred to as a genocide by Armenians, is an issue that strains ties between the two countries. Turkey categorically denies the charges of genocide, saying that there were deaths on both sides when Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with the Russian army and invaded Eastern Anatolia to gain independence.
Turkish shepherd shot dead by Armenian border guards - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news
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Coincidence or on purpose? Few days ago few Azerbaijani guards were shot at and killed.
Ülker illegally crossed into Armenia from the Arpaçay district of Kars on Wednesday when he realized that a sheep from his herd had crossed the border. According to reports, Armenian soldiers opened fire on the shepherd without giving a warning.
The Armenian side wants to return the body. Our brigade's assistant commander and the district governor are at the border. We will most likely receive our citizen's body through the east gate. We could say that there was excessive use of force involved considering that he [Ülker] did not have a gun in his hands, said Tepe.
We are continuing to have talks with Armenian officials. This [shooting incident] is one the problems that we sometimes face at our borders, added Tepe.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan after the Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan in 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 2009, the Zurich Protocols were signed between Armenia and Turkey to normalize relations; however, the move did not bear fruit as the border remains closed.
The mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans in 1915, referred to as a genocide by Armenians, is an issue that strains ties between the two countries. Turkey categorically denies the charges of genocide, saying that there were deaths on both sides when Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with the Russian army and invaded Eastern Anatolia to gain independence.
Turkish shepherd shot dead by Armenian border guards - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news
----------------------------------------------------------
Coincidence or on purpose? Few days ago few Azerbaijani guards were shot at and killed.
