MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The terrorist attack on Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was geared to undermine collective efforts towards political settlement in Syria and the process of normalization of the Russian-Turkish relations, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"On December 19, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was killed in a terrorist attack," the ministry said. "We resolutely condemn this inhumane crime which is geared to undermine collective efforts towards soonest political settlement in Syria and the process of normalization of the Russian-Turkish relations which has just started."

The Russian foreign ministry "expresses deepest condolences to the family of outstanding Russian diplomat Andrei Karlov." "The cherished memory about him will stay forever in the hearts of his colleagues and all those who knew him," the ministry said, adding that this tragedy "commits us to invigorate our uncompromising efforts against terrorism in all of its manifestations."

Cooperation in probe

Moscow will do everything possible so that those guilty in the murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov are punished, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"We expect from the Turkish authorities the closest cooperation with representatives of Russian investigative agencies in conducting a thorough investigation into all the circumstances of the barbarous crime, identifying and punishing its organizers, and taking maximum efficient measures to ensure security of Russian citizens, diplomatic missions and their employees," the ministry said. "On our part, we will do our best in cooperation with Turkey’s law enforcers to have those responsible duly punished."

Joint efforts against terrorism

Russia and Turkey will reinvigorate their efforts against terrorism, the Russian foreign ministry said.

"In the follow-up of the telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 19, a telephone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who has arrived in Moscow to take part in a trilateral ministerial meeting in the Russia-Turkey-Iran format, took place on the same day," the ministry said. "As President Erdogan, the Turkish foreign minister expressed deep condolences over the December 19 fatal terrorist attack on Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov."

"The ministers reiterated their commitment to reinvigorate efforts to counter the terrorist threat more efficiently, to exclude any possibility of success of provocations, wherever they might originate from, geared to frustrate the steady development of the Russian-Turkish relations, cooperation between the two countries in countering terrorism in Syria and Iraq," the ministry said.

Attack on Russian ambassador

Earlier in the day, an unidentified attacker shot at Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov as he was addressing the audience at the opening of a Russian photo exhibition in Ankara. The diplomat died of gunshot wounds in hospital.

Three more people also sustained gun wounds during the attack, according to various media reports. Local news outlets reported that the suspected assailant was killed by law enforcers.

A source in the Russian embassy in Turkey told TASS there are no Russian nationals among those wounded.