Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned a deadly terrorist attack in the Moscow region and conveyed his condolences to the Russian foreign minister, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Friday, citing diplomatic sources.
In a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Fidan condemned the attack, which targeted a concert hall near Moscow and claimed numerous victims.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement mourning the losses and injuries from the evening’s attack.
“It is with great sadness that we learned of the many dead and injured in the attack on a concert hall in Moscow this evening,” the statement said.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz also condemned the violence on X.
“I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on a concert hall in Moscow, the capital of Russia, in which many people lost their lives and were injured,” said Yılmaz.
The attack in Krasnogorsk, the administrative center of the Moscow region, killed 40 people and injured over 100, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Friday.
The incident occurred during a performance by the music band Picnic in the Crocus City Hall.
After the shooting, an explosion led to a large fire, with several helicopters deployed to extinguish the flames.
Authorities are still searching for the shooters, who are believed to have fled the scene.
According to initial reports the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack, although an official statement has not yet been released.
The Russian authorities announced that over 100 people have been evacuated from the building and that more people are awaiting rescue on the roof of the building.
Concertgoers evacuated from the building have described to the media how the five to 10 armed men who attacked the hall had long black beards, wore bulletproof vests and carried machine guns as they shot at everyone at close range.
