Azerbaijan Condemns Russian Ambassador’s Assassination in Turkey

Azerbaijan strongly condemned the assassination of Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, who was killed in an armed attack in Turkish capitol city Ankara, on December 19th.

President Ilham Aliyev conveyed his deep condolences to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over the ambassador’s horrific death, perpetrated by Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, a member of Ankara riot police.

“I am deeply shocked by the news of the tragic death of ambassador...We resolutely and unconditionally condemn this bloody terrorist attack.”

A statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry addressed a strong denunciation of Ambassador Karlov’s killing that was reportedly called a ”terror attack” and linked to Russia’s military operations in Syria as the murderer can be heard shouting “don’t forget about Syria, about Aleppo.”

Hikmat Hajizade, spokesman to the ministry, noted that

“Azerbaijan is convinced that the terror act committed against Ambassador Andrey Karlov will further strengthen the determination, cooperation and joint efforts of Russia and Turkey in the fight against terrorism.”

In addition to official statement, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov delivered his personal sympathies in a letter to his colleague Sergey Lavrov with “heartfelt condolences and sympathy” to the Russian Foreign Ministry, family and relatives of the late diplomat.

Also with regard to Karlov’s assassination, in a tweet, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department, said

“Assassination of ambassador is one of the most vicious forms of terrorism.”

Mammadov slammed the bloody murder of Karlov that deserves the “strongest of condemnations.” 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked ambassador Karlov’s brutal assassination to efforts aimed at “hurting ties with Russia,” aimed to spoil Turkey-Russia relationship.

Russia’s Putin called it a “provocation” targeting to “disrupt the normalization of bilateral ties” of Turkey and Russia, as well as the “peace process in Syria.”