On 29 August 2017,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the Russian Ambassador to Turkey,His Excellency Alexei Erkhov,and the Russian Consul General in Istanbul,the Honourable Dmitry Evdokimov,according to a press release by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.The cordial talks lasted about an hour.Among the topics discussed were the relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate;Ukraine;and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia's invitation to the Ecumenical Patriarch to visit Moscow in December 2017.*
Another topic covered extensively was the assassination of Mr.Erkhov's predecessor,Andrei Karlov,by Turkish off duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas at a photography exhibition in Ankara on 19 December 2016.The killing occurred against the backdrop of a Turkish Islamist protest against Russia's involvement in the Syrian Civil War,particularly in Aleppo.Altintas was himself shot dead by Turkish security forces and his body disowned by his family.A statue of Ambassador Karlov is to be installed outside the Russian Embassy in Ankara.*
Ambassador Erkhov had previously served as Consul General in Istanbul,so has an expert knowledge of matters of concern to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the other Turkish minorities.
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