Turkey condemns ex-spy poison attack in UK

By Cansu Dikme

ANKARA (AA) - Dubbing the use of chemical weapons a “crime against humanity", Turkey on Monday condemned the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in the U.K.

“Turkey considers the use of chemical weapons as a crime against humanity and views the attack in the U.K. as such and condemns it,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

“Turkey joined the North Atlantic Council statement on March the 14th. Turkey's views on this attack were also expressed in the OSCE, the Conference on Disarmament and the Council of Europe,” he added.

Calling for an investigation into the incident, Aksoy also said the perpetrators should be brought to justice as soon as possible.

On Monday, 14 EU member states expelled dozens of Russian diplomats in an orchestrated reaction, over the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the U.K.

At least 45 Russian diplomats have been expelled across Europe so far.

The U.S. also expelled 60 diplomats and ordered the closure of Moscow’s consulate in Seattle.

Turkish Deputy PM and government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said Monday that Turkey was not planning to act against Russia.

“There is a positive and good relation between Turkey and Russia. In this sense, Turkey is not contemplating on taking any decision against Russia,” Bozdag said after a cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

On March 4, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were admitted to a hospital after being found unconscious in the southern English city of Salisbury. British officials have placed blame squarely with Russia, a charge Vladimir Putin adamantly denies.

London has said the attack was carried out using a Soviet-era Cold War nerve agent from a family called Novichok.

Skripal was granted refuge in the UK following a 2010 spy exchange between the U.S. and Russia. Before the exchange, he was serving 13 years in prison for leaking information to British intelligence.

Last week, following an EU summit in Brussels, the U.K., Germany, and France reaffirmed the Russian state was responsible for the nerve agent poisoning of Skripal and his daughter.