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PACE president condemns assassination of Russian ambassador

Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was gunned down on Monday night in Ankara

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Pedro Agramunt, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has strongly condemned the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey in a message to Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma (Russia’s lower house of parliament), the State Duma website reports.

"On behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, I strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack which targeted the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Turkey. I send my sincerest sympathies to the family of Ambassador Karlov, to his colleagues and friends, as well as to all Russian diplomats," Agramunt wrote.

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World leaders condemn brutal assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey

At the same time, the president of PACE asked Volodin to brief the State Duma members on his statement concerning this act of terror.

According to Agramunt, it is not the first attack that targeted a PACE member state but this attack is different as it was aimed against diplomacy, a cornerstone of international cooperation, peace and stability.

"I express our strong support to our member states, and in particular Russia and Turkey, in the fight against terrorism and the upholding of our values and institutions," Agramunt added.

Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was gunned down on Monday night while he was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition dubbed "Russia from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka through the eyes of travelers". According to Turkey’s authorities, the attacker was immediately neutralized by security forces. The attack also left three people wounded. Russia’s foreign ministry officially declared it a terrorist attack, while the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case labeling Karlov’s assassination an act of international terrorism.

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