Turkey increases security measures at Russian embassy in Ankara

Turkish officials have increased security at the Russian Embassy in Ankara in the wake of threats addressed to Ambassador Alexey Yerkhov due to an escalation of tensions in Syria’s Idlib, spokesperson for the Russian diplomatic mission in Turkey Irina Kasimova said.

"Yes, it is true, tensions have escalated lately. Due to this, we asked the Turkish officials to apply additional security measures," TASS cited her as saying.

According to the spokesperson, the Russian ambassador is receiving messages warning him against going out on the streets of Ankara. "We understand that the people who write this are unlikely to go out and kill, this is a way of expressing their anger. However, we need to take this into account," Kasimova noted.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted a rise in tensions in the Idlib de-escalation zone in the past few weeks. The Russian and Turkish military attempted to establish a ceasefire in the region, however, terrorist attacks persisted. As a result, military specialists from Russia and Turkey were killed.