Moscow is pleased that the Turkish judicial system has ruled against those accused of the murder of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov.
This was announced by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We pay tribute to the fact that the Turkish justice has strongly condemned this terrorist act, the victim of which was an outstanding Russian diplomat.
We state that the development of bilateral ties in recent years gives reason to believe that they have passed this difficult, in the full sense of the word, an unprecedented test, ”the ministry said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry recalled that Russia still proceeds from the fact that a significant share of the responsibility for this crime "is borne by certain circles" who, on the eve of the attempt on Karlov's life, "artificially whipped up a negative atmosphere in the media and social networks around Russia's actions in Syria."
“We look forward to continuing close cooperation between Russian and Turkish investigative bodies and promptly receiving comprehensive information from Ankara on the results and conclusions of the trial, the direct customers and organizers of this terrorist act,” the ministry added.
As reported by Anadolu agency, earlier a court in Turkey sentenced three defendants to two life sentences, and two more to one life sentence.
Among those who received two life sentences was Shahin Sogut, whom the court considers the "curator" of the perpetrator of the assassination attempt.
At the same time, the court found a former employee of the Turkish special services Vehbi Kurshad Akalyn guilty of organizing information leakage to the supporters of the alleged organizers of the murder of the ambassador and sentenced him to life and 15 years in prison.
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The court also sentenced Hussein Kotuce to life imprisonment in a strict regime colony and 15 years in prison for participating in the "intelligence structure" of a terrorist organization, the Turkish edition emphasizes.
A number of other defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3.9 to 15 years.
Six defendants were acquitted by the court.
The defense of those convicted in the case of the murder of the diplomat announced their intentions to appeal the verdict.
As RIA Novosti reports with reference to the lawyer of one of the defendants in the case, the process may take several years.
“The defense will appeal the sentences.
The filing of documents will take about three months, then the proceedings in higher instances will continue from six months to one and a half years.
As practice shows, all this can take from three to five years, ”the agency quotes the interlocutor.
Recall that Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was shot dead on December 19, 2016.
On that day, the diplomat participated in the opening of the exhibition "Russia from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka: Through the Eyes of a Traveler" in Ankara.
During Karlov's speech at the Center for Contemporary Art, not far from him was a man who took out a pistol and shot several times at the diplomat.
Soon, a video of the incident appeared on the Internet, which showed that before the attack, the killer pointed his left index finger up, as the Islamists do.
The shooter shouted slogans in support of opposition groups in Syrian Aleppo.
The police eliminated the attacker on the spot.
It turned out to be 22-year-old Turkish police officer Mevlut Mert Altintash, who was fired from the security forces after an attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016.
A group of representatives of the Investigative Committee and Russian law enforcement agencies went to Turkey to participate in the investigation.
In November 2018, it became known about the end of the investigation of the case.
Later, in 2019, the head of the RF IC, Alexander Bastrykin, spoke about the circumstances of the preparation for the assassination of the Russian diplomat.
According to the head of the Investigative Committee, the killer had previously chosen the day when Karlov was announced as a participant in the photo exhibition.
The attacker also booked a hotel a minute's walk from the event site and arrived there in advance to study the situation.
He dressed in a business suit, took a weapon and went to the center with his official ID shortly before Karlov's arrival, bypassing the search.
The murder of the Russian ambassador was condemned by politicians and diplomats around the world, and Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a provocation aimed at disrupting the peace process in Syria and normalizing Turkish-Russian relations.