No political motives behind attack on Belarusian diplomat
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey said on Thursday he sees no political motives behind the attack on his country’s diplomat in Ankara.
“Investigation is underway. There are no political motives behind the incident,” he told journalists.
The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Ankara’s Cankaya district, home to many government institutions and foreign diplomatic missions. According to Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, minister counsellor of Belarus’ embassy to Turkey Alexander Poganshev was attacked by a retired Turkish officer who shot himself after the incident. The Belarusian diplomat was taken to hospital with serious wounds. Demiroren News Agency announced later the attacker was the diplomat’s neighbor.
According to the Belarusian foreign minister, the conflict between the diplomat and his neighbor flared up in the entrance hall of the residential building they lived in. “The attacker probably got annoyed at children playing in the courtyard. A psychological outburst might have led to such an outcome,” Makey said.
He refuted rumors that the shooter had sought to stand up for his sister allegedly employed by the Belarusian embassy. “He had no sister working at the Belarusian embassy,” the minister commented. “We hope everything will be all right with him [Alexander Poganshev]. He is still in serious condition but there are prospects for recovery.”
He pointed out that the shooter, a former army officer, was registered with a psychiatric institution.
The Belarusian top diplomat added his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, had contacted him promising to spare no effort to investigate into the incident and save the life of the Belarusian diplomat.