The Russian ambassador to Turkey was killed when a gunman opened fire when he was about to deliver a speech on the opening of the exhibition "Russia in the eyes of Turks in Ankara today. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told journalists that Andrey Karlov, was injured in an attack later he had died of his wounds in the hospital.<br/><br/>The Anadolu news agency said the gunman had been "neutralised" soon after the attack, which appeared to mark one of the most serious spillovers of the Syria conflict in Turkey. Relations between Moscow and Ankara have long been fraught over the conflict, the two supporting opposing sides.<br/><br/>UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have strongly condemned the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey. The UN chief said, he is appalled by the senseless act of terror and the targeting of diplomatic personnel is not justified.<br/><br/>In a separate statement, the Security Council expressed deep condolences to the family of the Ambassador and the Russian Government. The members of the Council also stressed the fundamental principle of the inviolability of<br/>diplomatic agents and consular officers and the obligations, including under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on diplomatic agents and consular officers.<br/><br/>Russian President Vladimir Putin called the killing a provocation aimed at sabotaging warming ties between Moscow and Ankara and efforts to resolve the conflict in Syria. Turkey describes the killing as a terror attack on Turkey-Russia relations.
News On AIR | December 20, 2016 12:51 PM
Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in art gallery