The Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the verdict of the Turkish court in the case of the murder of Ambassador Andrei Karlov. The statement was published on the agency's website.
“We pay tribute to the fact that the Turkish justice has strongly condemned this terrorist act, the victim of which was an outstanding Russian diplomat … the development of bilateral ties in recent years suggests that they have passed this difficult, in the full sense of the word, an unprecedented test,” in the message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Moscow is counting on maintaining relations with Ankara and receiving information from the latter about the results and conclusions of the trial. The ministry noted that they still blame the murder on “certain circles”, who have inflamed the atmosphere around Russia's actions in Syria.
Earlier, a court in Turkey acquitted five defendants in the case. At the same time, six were sentenced to real imprisonment for a term of five to nine years. At least five of the accused were sentenced to life in prison, two of them under the terrorism article. In total, 28 people were accused in the case.
On December 19, 2016, the then Russian ambassador to Ankara, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead in the Turkish capital. The attack was carried out by former police officer Mevlut Mert Altintash, who was immediately eliminated by local security forces. The Russian Foreign Ministry qualified the incident as a terrorist attack. The diplomat was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
