Tighter Security for Diplomats
Tighter Security for Diplomats
The
spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday refused to
offer theories behind Monday's assassination of the Russian ambassador
to Turkey but indicated that Moscow doesn't believe the gunman acted on
his own.
"We
shouldn't rush with any theories before the investigators establish who
were behind the assassination of our ambassador," said spokesman Dmitry
Peskov, though he offered no theories about who those people might be.
The
ambassador, Andrei Karlov, was killed Monday evening in front of
stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara. The assassin, Mevlut
Mert Altintas of Ankara's riot police squad, was killed in a police
operation.
On
Tuesday, Russia flew a team of 18 investigators and foreign ministry
officials to Turkey to take part in the probe. Their plane returned with
Karlov's body and his family home. Russian officials and Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who was visiting Moscow met the family
at the Vnukovo airport late on Tuesday.
Ankara
has not made public any theories. But a senior Turkish government
official, who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to release details to the press, said it was unlikely
Altintas acted alone.
The official said the killing had all the marks of being "fully professional, not a one-man action."
Peskov
told reporters that Moscow on Wednesday the Kremlin will wait for the
investigation to wrap up before voicing any theories.
Earlier
on Wednesday, the Russian State Duma voted on a resolution that urged
authorities to take extra steps to protect Russian diplomats abroad.
- 21 December 2016
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