All news

Turkish diplomat says those responsible for Russian ambassador’s murder 'will be punished'

"Those responsible will get the punishment they deserve", Cavusoglu has promised
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu  Alexander Shcherbak/TASS
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Ankara will do everything possible to investigate the assassination of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, those responsible for it will get the punishment they deserve, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"We will do everything possible in order to establish all the circumstances of this crime and identify those involved in it," Cavusoglu said. "Those responsible will get the punishment they deserve."

"The Turkish people are mourning with the people of Russia", Turkish top diplomat said. "Both Turkey and Russia realize that the attack was aimed at damaging bilateral relations and compromising the achievements that have been made recently. Turkey and Russia should not let the organizers’ of this crime reach their goals. We should find out who is behind this heinous crime, we can succeed if we work together."

"I would like to strongly condemn the crime committed against your colleague and my friend Andrey Karlov," Cavusoglu went on to say. "He was a prominent diplomat performing his duties under difficult circumstances. Russia has always sent its best diplomats to Ankara which once again proves that you place great importance on the development of our relations."

"The Turkish prime minister told me that a decision had been made that the street in Ankara where the Russian embassy is located, will be renamed after Andrei Karlov in order to perpetuate his memory," Cavusoglu said.

"Turkey and Russia have recently proven not only to their peoples but also to the entire world, that they can achieve much though cooperation," the Turkish foreign minister stressed. "We intend to continue our joint efforts aimed at finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis as well as promoting bilateral relations in various spheres."

Joint anti-terrorist efforts 

Masterminds of the Russian ambassador’s murder wanted to harm the Russian-Turkish relations, but Moscow and Ankara should not allow terrorists to achieve this goal, Mevlut Cavusoglu noted.

"It is well-known that the major goal of the attackers was to do harm to the Russian-Turkish relations and discredit the success that we reached of late together with you by joint efforts." 

"Both Russia and Turkey are aware of this and we should not let the organizers of this crime achieve their goals," the diplomat added.