Agence France Presse — English
October 13, 2006 Friday
Turkish army reports shooting incident at Armenian border
Armenian soldiers fired two shots into Turkish territory at the
sealed border between the two troubled neighbors earlier this week,
the Turkish general staff said Friday.
"Soldiers from Armenian border units committed a violation by firing
two shots into Turkish territory," said a brief statement on the
army’s web site.
It said the incident occurred Wednesday, a day before the lower
chamber of the French parliament voted a bill that would make it a
crime to deny that Ottoman Turks commited genocide against Aremenians
during World War I, a move that infuriated Ankara and won applause in
Yerevan.
"The foreign ministry has been informed about the incident in order
to undertake what is required," the statement said.
There were no casualties or damage in the incident, it added, without
giving other details.
Turkey has declined to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia over
its campaign for international recognition of the 1915-17 massacres
as genocide.
In 1993, it closed its border with the small Caucasian nation, a move
which was also a gesture of solidarity with close ally Azerbaijan,
which fought a war with Armenia over the disputed enclave of
Nagorny-Karabakh.