President Putin pays tributes at funeral of Russian ambassador

President Vladimir Putin looked sorrowful as he attended a farewell ceremony for Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov (Daily Mail)  

MOSCOW REUTERS Dec 22-Russia staged a sombre funeral ceremony on Thursday for Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey who was shot dead in Ankara by a man who shouted “Allahu Akbar” and “Don’t forget Aleppo”.   

 President Vladimir Putin, who promised retribution after Karlov, 62, was killed on Monday, was among mourners, including relatives and fellow diplomats, who gathered at the Foreign Ministry building where the slain envoy’s body lay in an open casket in Russian Orthodox tradition.  

 
 Russia and Turkey say the assassination was a failed attempt to derail a rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara which has seen them co-operate more closely over Syria, even though they have backed different sides in the conflict.