Putin vows to destroy ISIL after ambassador killed
December 19, 2016, 9:56 pm

Karlov was killed after being shot multiple times in the back [Xinhua]

“This murder is clearly a provocation aimed at undermining the improvement and normalisation of Russian-Turkish relations as well as undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in solving this conflict in Syria,” Putin said in a televised address Monday night.

The president warned that the “only response” to the attack is “stepping up the fight against terrorism”.

“The killers will feel it,” Putin said.

Karlov who was opening a photo gallery in the Turkish capital Ankara was shot with multiple rounds in the back and killed by an off-duty Turkish policeman on Monday.

The man shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!” and “God is great!” while firing straight into the crowd after he killed Karlov.

“We regard this as a terrorist act … Terrorism will not win and we will fight against it decisively,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 news channel.

The killer was identified as 22-year-old Mevlüt Mert, and Russia’s state-run TASS news agency cites local media as saying that he was fired from the police force after the failed coup attempted in Turkey this July.

Meanwhile, the Turkish, Russian and Iranian foreign ministers were due to meet tomorrow to discuss the situation in Syria.

Russian military sources said that the defense ministers of all three countries were due to meet that day as well.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow had only just begun to thaw after the downing of a Russian airplane by Turkish forces last year.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies