Russia sends team to investigate shooting in Turkey

Attack on diplomat will fail to drive countries apart, Kremlin official says

The gunman who fatally shot the Russian ambassador to Turkey was trying to “drive a wedge” between the two countries and derail efforts toward a peaceful solution of the civil war in Syria, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke to reporters in Moscow as 18 investigators from Russia arrived in Turkey to investigate the death of Andrei Karlov, who was shot multiple times by a Turkish police officer Monday while making a speech in Ankara. Gunman Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, 22, shouted slogans related to the Syrian crisis before he was shot and killed by police.

Peskov said he expects the attack will bring Turkey and Russia closer.

“Most likely the murder was aiming to derail the efforts toward a peaceful Syrian resolution,” Peskov said. “However, it will not impede this process in any way.”

Peskov said the investigators will determine whether the attack was the work of Altıntaş alone or a more complex conspir- acy. Turkish authorities have detained seven people, including six family members and a roommate of Altıntaş.

Altıntaş had taken a leave from his job with Ankara police days before the attack and had a hotel reservation near the Contemporary Arts Center where Karlov was slain. He refused to walk through a metal detector when he arrived at the center but was granted entry after showing his police ID, the Hurriyet Daily

News reported. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said a street near the Russian Embassy will be renamed for Karlov. Turkey and Russia will work together on the investigation, he said.

“It is known how important the relations with Russia are for the region — and not only for two countries,” Cavusoglu said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged their nations will continue cooperating in efforts to bring peace to Syria and on other issues.

Putin said the attack shows why the fight against terrorism must be vigorous.

“The killers will feel it,” Putin said.

VASILY MAXIMOV, AFP/GETTY IMAGES A man touches a picture of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Tuesday, a day after his assassination in Ankara.