ANKARA, December 19. /TASS/. Developing ties between Moscow and Ankara will be the best way to pay respects to late Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, killed in a terrorist attack on December 19, 2016, current Russian Ambassador to Ankara Alexei Yerkhov told TASS on Tuesday.

"Not so long ago, Andrei Karlov’s bust was unveiled here at the embassy in the presence of his widow Marina," he said. "Russian diplomats working all over the world helped raise funds for the making of the bust," the ambassador noted. "However, I think that advancing Russian-Turkish relations will be the best way to pay respects to him, as he had contributed much to this process," Yerkhov said.

According to the Russian ambassador, the implementation of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant projects, the record number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey and the activities of millions of Russian and Turkish businessmen strengthening bilateral cooperation will be the best tribute to the memory of Andrei Karlov.

Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the death of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov. He was gunned down on December 19, 2016, while delivering a speech at a photo exhibition. The attacker, an off-duty police officer named Mevlut Mert Altintas, was immediately killed by security forces. Russia’s Foreign Ministry officially declared the ambassador’s murder a terrorist attack, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case labeling Karlov’s assassination an act of international terrorism. Andrei Karlov was posthumously awarded the title of the Hero of Russia.