Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was on his way to Moscow for a tripartite meeting with his Russian and Iranian counterparts when the Russian ambassador was shot dead in an art gallery in Ankara.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Cavusoglu are expected to hold a joint press conference on Tuesday December 20 on the assassination, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was shot while making a speech at the gallery by a 22-year-old attacker wearing a tuxedo.
“Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria! As long as our brothers are not safe, you will not enjoy safety,” the attacker was heard shouting in video footage of the attack.
Russia and Turkey recently cooperated on a deal to reach a ceasefire and evacuate civilians from eastern Aleppo.
The talks between Russia, Turkey, and Iran were expected to focus on reaching a solution to stop the fighting in Aleppo, but may be enlarged to cover more of Syria.
