ANKARA, May 5. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Ankara Alexey Yerkhov has discussed the incident that occurred at a Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) summit in Ankara with Turkish Grand National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Mustafa Sentop, said Olga Timofeyeva, acting head of Russia’s permanent delegation to the PABSEC, on Friday in speaking to the press.

"The Russian ambassador has discussed the incident involving Russia’s delegation with the Turkish parliamentary speaker. The event’s organizers should have ensured proper security and there is a very big question addressed to them as to how this could have happened. I know that the police were there and questioned the eyewitnesses who saw the fight. In reality, no one has the right to simply look the other way regarding any provocation," she noted.

According to Timofeyeva, the Russian delegation member who was attacked in Ankara on Thursday is doing well and resting at a hotel. Timofeyeva also said that a number of Russian delegation members were continuing to take part in the summit proceedings. "We thought that if we left, Russia’s position wouldn’t be represented, whereas it should be voiced loud and clear," she stressed. The acting head of the Russian delegation believes that the Ukrainian delegation failed to achieve its objectives through instigating the incident at the PABSEC summit, but merely succeeded in drawing everyone’s attention to Russia.

"We will remain here to do our work on this platform. We believe that it’s important to express our opinion and we will keep trying in every possible way to call for constructive behavior. We would like this free-for-all and provocations to become a thing of the past," Timofeyeva added.

The incident occurred at the Ankara hotel serving as the venue for a two-day summit of parliamentary speakers from member states of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the 61st PABSEC General Assembly. Earlier, a video was posted on social media showing a Ukrainian delegate unfurling a flag and making some kind of statement, while a Russian representative ran up to the Ukrainian and grabbed the flag from him, which caused a brief struggle and an exchange of blows. The Russian representative was hit several times in the face and on the head before security guards broke the melee up. While on a live broadcast with a Russian TV talk show, Timofeyeva filmed how the incident was sparked, demonstrating the tense atmosphere at the hotel.