All news

Injured Belarusian diplomat getting better after surgery — Turkish foreign minister

Minister counselor of the Belarusian embassy in Turkey Alexander Poganshev had been attacked presumably by his neighbor on Wednesday
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu EPA-EFE/Toms Kalnins
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
© EPA-EFE/Toms Kalnins

ANKARA, July 25. /TASS/. The Belarusian diplomat who received several gunshot wounds in at attack in Ankara has undergone a surgery and is getting better, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

"The diplomat was taken to hospital where he has undergone a surgery. Now he is in an intensive care unit, and tomorrow he may be dispatched from it," Cavusoglu said. "Our President Tayyip Erdogan is closely following the situation," he added.

According to Cavusoglu, preliminary results of the probe indicate that the attack was provoked by a squabble between the diplomat and the attacker.

The Turkish top diplomat also said he had held telephone talks with his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makey to inform him about details of the incident.

Demiroren News Agency reported earlier on Wednesday that minister counselor of the Belarusian embassy to Turkey Alexander Poganshev had been attacked presumably by his neighbor who committed suicide immediately after the attack. The incident took place in Ankara’s Cankaya district, home to many government institutions and foreign diplomatic missions.

Spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry Anatoly Glaz told TASS the diplomat was in hospital in a serious condition. "The embassy employee was on his way home with his child when a mentally unstable man, a former serviceman, shot at him several times," he said.

Meanwhile, governor of Turkey’s Ankara Province Vasip Sahin excluded political motives behind the attack.