YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian foreign ministry is denying Turkish media reports which said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan to request the release and return of Umut Ali Ozmen, a 16 year –old illegal border crosser who was arrested and detained in Armenia. 

“This information is false. No such phone call has taken place,” foreign ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan told ARMENPRESS.

The Turkish Hurriyet newspaper reported that Erdogan called Pashinyan over the phone to request the release of the 16 year old shepherd.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether or not someone named Umut Ali Ozmen is in fact detained in Armenia. ARMENPRESS is clarifying the information.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan