Assassination of Russian ambassador not to damage Russia-Turkey ties

Flag-wrapped coffin of late Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is carried to a plane during a ceremony at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, December 20, 2016. [Agencies]

The assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey will not undermine Russia-Turkey relations, according to political analysts.

The actual impact of the incident on bilateral relations and the Syrian situation, they believed, will be quite limited, nor will it jeopardize their cooperation.

MOTIVES BEHIND FATAL SHOOTING

The incident occurred when ambassador Andrei Karlov prepared to address an art exhibition ceremony in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday. He was shot dead by a member of Ankara's riot police squad who shouted words including the Syrian city of "Aleppo" at the scene.

The top leaders of Russia and Turkey had a conversation via telephone immediately after the incident, expressing their willingness to jointly investigate the assassination and intensify their cooperation in anti-terrorism.

After the incident, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly condemned the assassination of Russian ambassador to Ankara, describing it as a "provocation" aimed at ruining Turkey-Russia ties.

"Turkey-Russia relations were vital for the region and those who aimed to harm ties were not going to achieve their goals," Erdogan said in a televised message.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with his Turkish counterpart, pointing out the killing of Karlov was a provocation aimed at derailing Russia-Turkey ties and the peace process in Syria.

"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," Putin said in a statement.

Putting the incident in perspective, the Russian Foreign Ministry also saw the connection between the killing and Tuesday's meeting of foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey in Moscow.

"We will take measures at this meeting (in Moscow) that will make it impossible for those who nurtured the people who ordered and organized this crime to realize their plans," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a statement.

The Russian media had reported that the meeting would mainly focus on the latest development of situation in Syria after the withdrawal of Syrian anti-government forces from Aleppo.

Syrian Social Nationalist Party representative Tarek Ahmed told Russian news agency Sputnik that this attack was an act aimed at damaging relations between Russia and Turkey as well as preventing a stronger alliance between Russia, Turkey and Iran and Syria.