A senior Russian senator, Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Putin ally has said Western countries planned the fatal shooting of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey.
Ambassador Andrey Karlov was shot dead at an art gallery in Ankara by a man believed to be Mevlűt Mert Altintaş, 22, an off-duty Turkish police officer.
Altintaş reportedly shouted: “We die in Aleppo, you die here”, before shooting the ambassador repeatedly in the back.
Mr Zhirinovsky, who leads the right-wing nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, said the killing was “a false flag operation by the West”.
The senator claimed the West orchestrated the shooting to prevent Turkish-Russian rapprochement following a year of tensions, which have gradually eased in recent months.
Other Russian politicians also rushed to link Western governments to the assasination.
Mr Alexey Pushkov, the former head of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, claimed the killing was a direct result of media “hysteria” concerning Aleppo, purveyed by “enemies” of Moscow.
Mr Frantz Klintsevich, the deputy chairman of the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament’s defence and security committee, reportedly said the assassination of Mr Karlov was a “true provocation”.
He said: “It was a planned action. Everyone knew that he was going to attend this photo exhibition.
Source: independent.co.uk
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