Karlov's Murder Aimed at Derailing Trilateral Talks on Syria - Syrian Opposition

The killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey was aimed at weakening the alliance between Russia, Turkey and Iran ahead of the upcoming trilateral talks on Syrian crisis, Tarek Ahmad, a member of the Hmeimim group of internal Syrian opposition, told Sputnik Monday, pointing to the link between these two developments.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was killed by a gunman at an art gallery exhibition opening in Ankara. Three other people were also injured in the attack.

"As a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, I would like to offer our condolences. If we put this event in perspective, we will see the connection between tomorrow's meeting and this killing. This trilateral meeting was aimed at and has prospects of solving the Syrian crisis. One reason for this brutal killing was an attempt to derail this trilateral alliance between Russia, Turkey and Iran as it could become the most powerful alliance in the region," Ahmad said.

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan and Turkish Minister of National Defense Fikri Isik will meet in a trilateral format in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the Syrian crisis.

"I think this attack, may be, is an act aimed at damaging relations between Russia and Turkey and prevent stronger alliance between Russia, Turkey and Iran and Syria," Ahmad added.