WASHINGTON: US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen said he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey in the capital Ankara, in a statement late Monday.
A Turkish policeman crying "Aleppo!" and "Allahu Akbar!" fatally shot Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov while he was addressing visitors to a photo exhibition earlier in the day.
Ankara mayor Melih Gokcek had earlier speculated on his official Twitter account that the gunman may have been linked to the exiled preacher, whom the government blames for the July coup aimed at toppling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"I condemn in the strongest terms this heinous act of terror," Gulen said in a statement.
"No terrorist act can be justified, regardless of its perpetrators and their stated purposes," he added. "It is the expectation of the Turkish people and the world that the government investigate the circumstances of this incident, identify those who aided the perpetrator and take the necessary precautions so that such an attack cannot be staged in the future."
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