kvirikashvili-giorgi

(Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s prime minister made a made a quick visit to Istanbul on Tuesday a day after Russia’s ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was shot and killed by a Turkish off duty police officer.

PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili called the assassination ‘unprecedented violence of the modern century’ and expressed his sympathies to the diplomat’s family.

During a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim, the Georgian PM strongly condemned the terror act and expressed his support on behalf of the Georgian government.

“It is with deep regret that I learned of the assassination of Andrey Karlov, Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey. We are witnessing unprecedented violence and confrontation in 21st century. We stand by the civilized world. Our goal is peace in the region, and we will spare no effort to promote stability and development”, he said.

Also Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased ambassador after the terrorist attack in Ankara.

“Attacking innocent people or diplomats is totally unacceptable, outrageous and should be condemned by the civilized world,” Eka Mishveladze, the president’s spokesperson, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“Terrorism is a disease that can be defeated by joint efforts. The President sends his condolences to the family of the victim,” Mishveladze said.

A 22 year-old gunman, identified as off duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas, assassinated Karlov as he shouted “Do not forget Aleppo!” Karlov had been Russia’s ambassador to Turkey since 2013. The attack took place at an art gallery in Ankara.

The gunman was shot and killed later by police.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said the killing of his ambassador to Turkey was a provocation aimed at souring Russia-Turkey relations and derailing a peace deal to be discussed Tuesday at a meeting between Iran, Russia and Turkey.

The leaders of Turkey and Russia vowed to not let the assassination cast a shadow over the friendship between their two countries. Russia has been instrumental in President Bashar al-Assad’s push to retake rebel-held parts of Syria.