Istanbul/Moscow – President Vladimir Putin said late Monday the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov (pic), was “undeniably a provocation” designed to damage Russian-Turkish relations.
Karlov was shot and killed in Ankara on Monday by a Turkish police officer who shouted Islamist slogans and slammed the conflict in Syria, before being killed by police.
“This crime is undeniably a provocation aimed at derailing the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations and the peace process in Syria,” Putin said.
“There can be only one response – stepping up the fight against terrorism – which the criminals will find out firsthand,” he added. “We must find out who directed the killer’s hand.”
Turkey’s leadership was also quick to denounce the “terror attack” on the veteran diplomat who was giving a speech at the opening of an art exhibit in the capital.
Turkey’s ties with Russia were only recently restored after months of turmoil, largely over the crisis in Syria.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Putin spoke by phone within hours of the attack.
The two leaders agreed to set up a joint commission to investigate the shooting, allegedly perpetrated by a 22-year-old member of the Turkish riot police who had been on the force for more than two years.
The shooter, wearing a dark suit and tie, shot the ambassador in the back and proceeded to wave his gun as he paced the room of the art gallery where the incident took place, according to video footage and audio of the attack.
While walking back and forth he shouted “Allahu Akbar” – or God is Great – several times.
He then recited an Arabic saying attributed to the companions of the prophet Mohammed, popularized in violent Islamist circles as a battle hymn, including by Syrian hardline rebels in their videos.
“We are those who swore allegiance to Mohammed and to the jihad,” he screamed in Arabic before changing to Turkish and focusing on Syria, saying “do not forget Aleppo, do not forget Syria.”
He vowed those responsible for “cruelty” in the neighbouring country would pay the price.
Two people remained in hospital after being injured during the incident, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, indicating one was wounded in the arm and the other in the leg.
Turkey’s private Dogan news agency said the attacker’s mother and sister were detained and their home searched.
Russia and Turkey, which support opposite sides in the Syrian civil war, have managed to patch up rocky relations in recent months after Turkish forces shot down a Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border last year.
Russia and Turkey in recent days have been working together to evacuate civilians and militants from a rebel-held enclave in Aleppo amid a major offensive by Syrian state forces to take control of the city. Russia is the Syrian government’s main military backer.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu found out about the attack while flying to Moscow for meetings on Tuesday about the war in Syria, where Russia has been carrying out air strikes in support of the government while Turkey backs the armed opposition.
The talks, which will also involve Iran, will go ahead.
The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, condemned the “savage attack.” Numerous nations, including from the European Union and Syria, also condemned the shooting.
Karlov was a long-serving Russian diplomat. He was married and had a son, according to the website of the embassy in Ankara.
-dpa
