Russia is to beef up security around its embassies following the killing of its ambassador to Turkey in a gallery in broad daylight.
Andrei Karlov was shot dead as he gave a speech in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday afternoon.
He was killed by Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, a Turkish policeman, who expressed anger at Russia's involvement in the Syrian city of Aleppo before he too was shot dead.
The killing followed days of protests in Turkey over Russia's support for the Syrian government and its role in the siege of Aleppo.
Yesterday Mr Karlov’s widow Marina went to Esenboga aiport in Ankara to see off her husband’s coffin on a special military flight to Moscow.
Reports in the Turkish press suggest that the killer used his police identification to avoid metal detectors at the entrance to the gallery where the attack took place.
There were also reports that police had detained seven people in a series of overnight raids, including Altintas’s parents, sister and three other relatives.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, thanked the Turkish authorities for their “instantaneous response” and neither that country should not allow "any concessions to terrorists”.
"This tragedy forces all of us to fight more decisively against terrorism," Mr Lavrov he said as he met Turkish Foreign Affairs minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow.
The killing was carried out at a pivotal moment for Russia and Turkish relations.
Russia has backed Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian government while Turkey has backed anti-Assad rebels throughout the war in the country.
However, Turkey did not intervene in the recent battle for Aleppo after the Turkish President Recep Tayypi Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to set aside their differences.
The Russians hope that a more secure deal on Syria could allow them to become the pre-eminent power in the Middle East.
Both leaders suggested that Mr Karlov’s murder was an attempted attack on the fragile alliance between the two countries.
Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan also agreed to conduct a joint investigation into the killing, in a bid to discover if Altintas was acting alone or as part of a wider network.
He has been linked to the failed coup against Mr Erdogan over the summer.
Turkish officials have also suggested he may be linked to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based anti-Erdogan cleric.
A group of 18 Russian investigators and foreign ministry officials have been sent to Ankara to investigate the killing.
Reports suggests the killing was planned.
Altintas had taken leave from work on medical grounds and booked himself into a hotel near the exhibition centre, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
Police in Ankara have also detained a man who fired shots in front of the US embassy hours just after the killing.
No-one was hurt in the incident.
But the man reportedly fired a number of shots in the air before he was overpowered.
The US Embassy said that its embassies in Ankara, Istanbul and the southern city of Adana would be "closed for normal operations on Tuesday".
Russian deputy foreign minister Oleg Syromolotov also warned Russians against travelling to Turkey, citing attacks that have hit the country over the past 18 months.
Meanwhile, Swiss police said they have found no sign of any radical Islamist or far-right motive by a gunman who killed himself after a shooting at a Zurich mosque which left three worshippers wounded.
Police chief Christiane Lentjes Meili said that investigations were continuing in connection with the 24-year-old Swiss man who carried out the shootings, also on Monday.
She told reporters: "There's no indication of any kind of terrorist connection to (the Islamic State group) or any Islamic radicalisation of the suspect. "
Ms Lentjes Meili said that police had uncovered that the gunman, who was not named, had also recently stabbed an acquaintance to death.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here