YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, ARMENPRESS: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia sent a note to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 1. This was reported to Armenpress by the Department for Press, Information and Public Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, touching upon the response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey on the occasion of the death of the Turkish shepherd, who crossed the Armenian-Turkish border on July 31.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia applied to the Turkish side on August 1, thus expressing its pain concerning the incident and hoped that such incidents will not occur in the future”.

On August 1 the Governor of Kars informed that the 35-year-old shepherd Mustafa Walker crossed the Armenian border on July 31 in the evening to find his lost cow, which gave birth to a calf on the Armenian side. The Turkish citizen crossed the Armenian border on his horse to return the cow and the calf. The border guards opened fire on him. The Anadolu News Agency informed earlier that the Armenian frontiers found the Turkish shepherd in a seriously wounded condition. The life of the Turkish citizen was not managed to be saved. The Kars authorities and the Turkish frontiers were negotiating with the Armenian side to get the dead body of Mustafa Walker back to Turkey and after the corresponding protocols they took the body of the Turkish citizen and transferred to Arpaçay and then to Erzurum for the medical investigation.

Earlier the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey spread statement on the occasion of the death of the Turkish shepherd, who crossed the Armenian-Turkish border on July 31 evening. The statement, published in the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, says in particular: “We strictly condemn the murder of the innocent border-crossed citizen. The use of the excessive force by the Armenian side on the border does not have any explanation. These kinds of the developments prove once more that there is a necessity to demonstrate sanity in the continuous and comprehensive normalization of the relations with the neighboring countries of Armenia in the South Caucasus region”.

Meanwhile the Head of the Press Service of the Border Department of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Sergey Grechin stated that crossing the Armenian-Turkish border, the 35-year-old shepherd Mustafa Walker opened fire on the Russian frontiers and then tried to penetrate the territory of Armenia. The Russian border guards responded to the fire and wounded the Turkish citizen.

In Armenia the Border Department of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation implements protection of the Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Iran.