MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart strongly condemn the despicable terrorist attack which killed Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov.
"The parties strongly condemn the despicable terrorist attack carried out in Ankara on December 19, 2016, which resulted in the death of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, as well as terrorist attacks on Russia’s embassy in Damascus and Iran’s embassies in Beirut and Baghdad," says a statement adopted at the Moscow meeting between the two presidents.
"The parties pointed out it was unacceptable to violate the principles of sovereignty and equality of states, as well as use terrorist and extremist groups as tools for achieving political goals," the statement reads. "The two countries stressed that terrorism had nothing to do with any culture, religion or ethnic group while all attempts to liken it to any of these should be prevented."
Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead on December 19, 2016, while he was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition. According to Turkey’s authorities, the attacker, a former Turkish police officer, was immediately neutralized by security forces. Russia’s foreign ministry called the attack a terrorist act while the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case labeling Karlov’s assassination an act of international terrorism.