Murder Of Ambassador In Turkey A Ploy To Disrupt Peace Process In Syria, Says Putin

Following the murder of Russia's ambassador to Turkey on Monday, President Vladimir Putin said that the killing was aimed at blemishing Russia-Turkey ties along with disrupting Moscow's attempts to resolve the Syria crisis-

A crime has been committed and it was without doubt a provocation aimed at spoiling the normalisation of Russo-Turkish relations and spoiling the Syrian peace process which is being actively pushed by Russia, Turkey, Iran and others…

Putin, who personally knew the murdered envoy ensured his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Russian investigators would soon fly to Ankara to assist the Turks with the investigation. He also wanted guarantees from Turkey about the safety of Russian ambassadorial facilities.

The foreign and defence ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey are due to discuss the future of Syria in Moscow on 20 December . The discussions would go ahead despite the murder. In an odd coincidence, Putin was going to attend a Moscow play on Monday night written by Alexander Griboyedov, Russia's ambassador to Iran, who was murdered in 1829. But he cancelled after hearing about his envoy’s murder.