ISTANBUL, March 28./TASS/. The terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow could not have been committed without the help of foreign intelligence services, Omer Celik, the spokesman for the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party, said.
"We express our sincere condolences to the Russian people over this tragic event. <...> It is evident that it is impossible to carry out such a professional attack without the support of intelligence from another country. Such acts always have sponsors. There are lobbies that want the war [conflict in Ukraine] to continue," the spokesman for the party led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the NTV TV channel.
The intelligence services of Turkey and Russia are working together to fight terrorism, he added.
On March 23, Erdogan expressed his condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the terrorist attack in a phone call, saying Ankara was ready to cooperate with Moscow to fight terror in all its forms.
On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just outside the Moscow city limits. At least 143 people were killed. According to the latest data, some 360 people were injured, 205 of whom received medical assistance.
Eleven people suspected of involvement in the terrorist attack have been apprehended, including the four gunmen, who were arrested in the Bryansk Region, southwest of Moscow, as they attempted to flee to Ukraine across the nearby border.
President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that, according to preliminary information, the Ukrainian side had prepared "a window" at the border especially for the terrorists to cross undetected. He promised to identify and punish all those who were behind the attack on Crocus City Hall.