Turkey vows continued cooperation with Russia on Syria after envoy slaying

Turkish leaders on Tuesday vowed continued cooperation with Russia on Syria, one day after the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated by a gunman.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while speaking at the inauguration of a Eurasia tunnel linking the Asian and European parts of Istanbul under the Bosphorus Strait, said cooperation with Russia on the Syrian issue will continue uninterrupted.

He drew the attention to the meeting in Moscow among Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian and Iranian counterparts.

The trio met to discuss the details of an evacuation operation from the eastern part of the Syrian city of Aleppo to a secure area controlled by the opposition forces.

The Syrian government troops, following months of fierce fighting under Russian air cover, are poised to take control of entire Aleppo once the cornered opposition forces and others are evacuated.

In his speech made at the inauguration ceremony, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described the murder of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov as a "clear provocation" that targeted the friendly relations between Turkey and Russia.

"Whatever they try to do, Turkey and Russia will continue to develop their ties," the premier said.

Ankara and Moscow have been making efforts over the past months to mend their ties damaged after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November last year.

The Russian envoy was shot dead Monday evening, when he was attending an art exhibition in Ankara, by a young off-duty police officer who shouted "Don't forget Aleppo! don't forget Syria!"

Erdogan said that a joint Turkish-Russian investigation commission had started to look into every aspect of the attack and that the connections had begun to emerge.

source: Xinhua