Turkey claims followers of US-exiled cleric killed Russian ambassador(Source telegraph.co.uk)

Turkey blamed the murder of Russia’s ambassador to the country on a US-based a cleric on Tuesday, as both Ankara and Moscow vowed the killing would not undermine a fragile alliance between them.  

Turkey’s foreign minister on Tuesday told John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, that Ankara and Moscow believe followers of Fethullah Gulen were behind the killing of Andrei Karlov on Monday.  

“Turkey and Russia know that behind the attack… there is FETO,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told Mr Kerry, referring to Turkey’s acronym for Mr Gulen’s organisation, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

The Turkish government has previously accused Mr Gulen, a critic of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of orchestrating the failed military coup that rocked the country in July. Mr Gulen denies the accusation. 

Earlier officials in Moscow and Ankara blamed the attack on “terrorists” seeking to sabotage bilateral relations and damage efforts to make peace in Syria.  “It benefits those who want to drive a wedge between Russia and Turkey” and undermine joint efforts to find a settlement in Syria, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said.