Alwaght- Russian president says the killing of his ambassador to Turkey was designed to spoil Ankara-Moscow relations and disrupt the ongoing peace process in Syria.
Vladimir Putin says the terrorists try to stop the normalization of relations between Russia and Turkey that had gone cold after the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet by Turkish army in summer.
"The crime that was committed is without doubt a provocation aimed at disrupting the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations and disrupting the peace process in Syria that is being actively advanced by Russia, Turkey and Iran," said Putin during a televised speech.
"There can be only one answer to this -- stepping up the fight against terrorism, and the bandits will feel this," he added.
Putin added that Moscow was sending investigators to Ankara to investigate the incident, adding, "We have to know who directed the hand of the killer."
Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated last night during his inauguration speech for a photo exhibition in Ankara. The assassin has been identified as 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, who had served with the Turkish anti-riot police for around three years. Altintas was “neutralized" by Turkish police after killing the envoy.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan also said both he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agree that the assassination of Moscow's envoy to Ankara was an act of provocation by those seeking to ruin relations between both countries.
"We know that this is a provocation aimed at destroying the process of normalization in relations between Turkey and Russia," said Erdogan during a televised broadcast after a phone conversation with Putin.
Erdogan added that relations between Turkey and Russia were very important for the region and that those who aimed to harm these ties would never succeed.
