21 Dec 2016

Russia has condemned the murder of the country’s ambassador to Turkey Mr Andrey Karlov.

Mr Karlov was killed in a terrorist attack in Ankara, Turkey on Monday (December 19).

The Russian embassy in Botswana on December 20 announced that an investigation would be conducted into circumstances of the assassination to find and punish the perpetrators.

The embassy quoted Russia president, Mr Vladimir Putin as saying the assassination was “a clear provocation aimed at derailing the peace process in Syria, which is actively mediated by Russia, Turkey and Iran.”

“The Russian Federation strongly condemns this brazen crime aimed at undermining the collective efforts to reach political settlement in Syria and at disrupting the process of normalising Russian-Turkish relations.

The Russian investigatory authorities will conduct a thorough inquiry into all circumstances of the barbaric assassination in coordination with their Turkish counterparts to find and punish the perpetrators,” the Embassy said through a statement. ENDS