Putin and Erdogan vow murder to not harm rapprochement

  20 December 2016    Read: 1829
Putin and Erdogan vow murder to not harm rapprochement
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin both made televised statements on Monday night condemning the killing as an attempt to destroy a recent thaw between their countries and undermine the Syrian peace process.
"This murder is clearly a provocation aimed at undermining the improvement and normalization of Russian-Turkish relations, as well as undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in settling the conflict in Syria," Mr Putin said.

Mr Putin said he and Mr Erdogan had agreed in a telephone conversation that a team of Russian investigators would fly to Turkey to investigate the murder, and demanded that they find out "who gave the orders."

He praised Mr Karlov as a "brilliant diplomat" and ordered the Russian foreign ministry to award him posthumous honours.

Mr Erdogan said Turkey-Russia relations were vital for the region and those who aimed to harm ties were not going to achieve their goals.

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