Turkish FM Says Murder of Ambassador Karlov Targets Russia, Turkey

Turkey condemns the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey as a terrorist act aimed against both Russia and Turkey, but this crime will not damage bilateral relations, Turkish Foreign Minster Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov died after being shot by a gunman at an art gallery exhibition opening in Ankara earlier on Monday.

"The whole Turkey condemns this terrorist act. Both the Rusian leadership and the rusian peole realize that this terrorist attack was aimed not only against Karlov, but against Russia and Turkey," Cavusioglu, who arrived in Moscow for talks on Syrian crisis, said.

"It was an attack on political will that prioritized cooperation…But our relations will not be spoiled [by this incident]," Cavusoglu stressed.

According to the minister, Ankara and Moscow will set up a joint committee to investigate the murder of the Russian ambassador.