Azerbaijan Finds New Excuse for Not Returning Sheep: Ghulunts

On January 13, the Azerbaijani forces took Surik Matevosyan, a shepherd from the community of Tegh in Syunik, captive, and later that evening, he was returned with the mediation of Russian peacekeepers. However, the Azerbaijanis also took around 350 sheep belonging to the shepherd, and to this day, the opposing side refuses to return them, reports Hraparak.am.

The head of the Tegh community, Davit Ghulunts, informed the media that the Azerbaijani side is presenting a new justification for not returning the sheep. “Now they are saying that when they released your shepherd, he wrote a statement to us that he has no debts or claims against us, and that he did not cross the border with any sheep. We called the shepherd and asked him if he wrote such a thing; he said no, I only mentioned that I have no complaints against them, that they did not treat me badly. Well, we are still negotiating with the Russian side; we’ll see. Do you know Turkish diplomacy? They will do anything, but we have also provided the Russian side with photographs showing that the shepherd was taken with the sheep. If we do not bring back the sheep, it can be said that this man lost everything he worked for his entire life. The flock was his personal property, not the village’s,” said the head of the Tegh community.

The 53-year-old shepherd’s heart is breaking. Since the day he was returned, he has not found peace. “I no longer see the point in living; there are more than 20 lambs, and already 5 have died. How are they going to survive without their mother? They only eat milk, no grass, or anything else; they are all lambs, and they will all die in a few days, there will be nothing left, my barn will become a graveyard. I supported my family with that... When they say there are no sheep, was I crazy? What was I doing there alone?” the shepherd said, expressing his despair.

When asked what will be done to ease the shepherd's situation if the sheep cannot be returned, Davit Ghulunts, the head of the Tegh community, replied, “If we cannot retrieve them, we need to start thinking about some form of compensation through the governor’s office or other institutions.”