In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed the Turkish judiciary verdict which sentenced five defendants in the Karlov case to life imprisonment and eight defendants to prison terms of five to fifteen years.

Iran Press/Europe: A statement from Russia's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said that the trial of those involved in the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was being closely followed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry statement added: "It is gratifying that the Turkish security and judicial system has finally ruled on this tragic incident, which has had a profound effect on contemporary Russian-Turkish relations.

The Turkish judiciary has sentenced three people to life imprisonment for the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrei Karlov, who was assassinated during the opening of a photo exhibition in Turkey in 2016.

The statement concluded by expressing hope that cooperation between the Russian and Turkish judiciary would continue and that the Russian side would receive full information from Ankara on the investigation into the Karlov assassination. 219