World condemns assassination of Ambassador Karlov

Leaders from around the world have condemned the assassination in Ankara of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov. The ambassador was shot multiple times at an art exhibition in Ankara late on Monday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted: "I condemn the killing of Russia's amb to Turkey. My condolences to his family & Russian people. No justification for such a heinous act."

In Washington, the State Department, Pentagon and White House all condemned the attack, "whatever its source," and offered U.S. assistance in the investigation. "This heinous attack on a member of the diplomatic corps is unacceptable, and we stand united with Russia and Turkey in our determination to confront terrorism in all of its forms," the White House said in a statement. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Karlov "was assassinated by a radical Islamic terrorist" and offered his condolences. "The murder of an ambassador is a violation of all rules of civilized order and must be universally condemned," he said.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "appalled by this senseless act of terror and emphasizes that there can be no justification for the targeting of diplomatic personnel and civilians." The Security Council also condemned the attack in a separate statement.

In Britain, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and the envoy to Ankara, Richard Moore, took to Twitter to denounce the killing and said their "thoughts are with his family."

Germany's Ankara embassy tweeted: "We strongly condemn the assassination of Russia's Ambassador to Turkey in Ankara. Our thoughts are with his family+friends."

"Pakistan condemns killing of Russian Amb in terrorist attack. We condole with bereaved family & express solidarity with Russia & Turkey," was posted on Twitter by Mohammed Nafees Zakaria, spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned the attack in a call to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi conveyed the country's condolences to Karlov's family and to the Russian government. Qatar, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Iran also condemned the murder.