Russian border guards kill Turkish shepherd on Armenian-Turkish border, highlighting Russia's unusual involvement in Armenia.

An incident on the Turksih-Armenian border earlier this week resulted in the killing of a Turkish shepherd who had strayed by mistake into Armenian territory whilst gathering his sheep. In iteself this is not an unsual occurance, such problems happen on tense borders. What was unusual in this case was that he was killed by Russian border guards, since it is the Russians who police the Turkish-Armenian border. The incident has highlighted one of the many anachronisms in the peculiar relationship between Armenia and Russia.
 
A statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday (1 August) said that Mustafa Ülker, a Turkish citizen who was grazing his livestock on the Turkish-Armenian border lost his life as a result of firing as he crossed the Armenian border to round up his livestock.   The statement added:
 
\"We strongly condemn the shooting and killing of an innocent Turkish citizen for a simple border violation which we understand to have had an innocent purpose. There is no explanation for the Armenian party’s use of disproportionate force in such an incident which may typically occur at the border.

This and other similar incidents reveal once again the need for a complete, sustainable and comprehensive normalization in the South Caucasus region and the prevalence of common sense in Armenia’s relations with its neighbors.\"
 
Armenia has been trying to play down the incident. It sent a diplomatic note to Turkey in which it extended its condolences concerning the incident, and expressed a hope that such incidents would not occur again in the future. 
 
The incident took place on Wednesday and the body of the dead shepherd has alrerady been returned to Turkey.
 
Commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment that "Armenian-Turkish relations remain tense and complicated, and this incident, though in itself not politically serious, can easily be used by nationalists in Turkey to stir up anti-Armenian feeling. But it has also reminded the world that the border between Armenia and Turkey is guarded on the Armenian side by Russians. In fact they never left after the USSR was dissolved. Armenia says that it is for its own protection because of the hostile attitude of Turkey and the fact that Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with Armenia. But the fact remains that this is an odd situation, one of many anachronisms in Turkish-Armenian relations. The Turkish call for 'complete, sustainable and comprehensive normalisation in the South Caucasus' is well founded and needs to be heeded"
 
source: commonspace.eu

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

Borrell underlined that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and to remain a committed partner to the Afghan people. "Of course, we will have to take into account the evolving situation, but disengagement is not an option.  We are clear on that: there is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement, through inclusive peace talks.
Editor's choice
News
Campaign "Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025" launched

Campaign "Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025" launched

LINKS Europe is pleased to announce the launch of the campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025. This will be the fourth Landmine Free South Caucasus campaign that LINKS Europe is co-ordinating since 2019, and like previous editions, the campaign will be regional, involving Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and will have five official languages: Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and English. LINKS Europe will work with stakeholders in the three countries in the delivery of the campaign. The campaign will run from 1 September to 15 December. The first part, from 1 September to 15 November, will be largely informative, using media and social media, whilst engaging with decision makers and civil society in the three countries. In the second part of the campaign, from 15 November to 15 December, the focus this year will be on the human and economic costs of landmine contamination. The Campaign will again mark 30 November as the Day of Solidarity with the victims of landmines and other remnants of war in the South Caucasus. A spokesperson for LINKS Europe said this year the campaign takes special significance following the progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process and the historic meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, together with the US president in the White House on 8 August. For six years, between 2018-2024, LINKS Europe worked on landmine issues in a very difficult political context, but always insisted that a regional approach was necessary for successful mine action in the South Caucasus. It consistently held that mine action could serve as a confidence-building measure in the region. Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025 will again push these ideas, but the context has changed, and the chance of success is now higher.

Popular

Editor's choice
News
Campaign "Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025" launched

Campaign "Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025" launched

LINKS Europe is pleased to announce the launch of the campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025. This will be the fourth Landmine Free South Caucasus campaign that LINKS Europe is co-ordinating since 2019, and like previous editions, the campaign will be regional, involving Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and will have five official languages: Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and English. LINKS Europe will work with stakeholders in the three countries in the delivery of the campaign. The campaign will run from 1 September to 15 December. The first part, from 1 September to 15 November, will be largely informative, using media and social media, whilst engaging with decision makers and civil society in the three countries. In the second part of the campaign, from 15 November to 15 December, the focus this year will be on the human and economic costs of landmine contamination. The Campaign will again mark 30 November as the Day of Solidarity with the victims of landmines and other remnants of war in the South Caucasus. A spokesperson for LINKS Europe said this year the campaign takes special significance following the progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process and the historic meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, together with the US president in the White House on 8 August. For six years, between 2018-2024, LINKS Europe worked on landmine issues in a very difficult political context, but always insisted that a regional approach was necessary for successful mine action in the South Caucasus. It consistently held that mine action could serve as a confidence-building measure in the region. Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025 will again push these ideas, but the context has changed, and the chance of success is now higher.