Turkish speaker of the Assembly Mustafa Sentop expressed his apologies to the Russian delegation over the incident with the Ukrainian delegate during the PABSEC (Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation) summit in Ankara earlier this week, according to the United Russia political party. 

On Thursday, Sputnik reported that a Ukrainian delegate attacked his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the PABSEC summit in Ankara. The news was then confirmed by the Russian embassy in Turkey: noting that the Russian diplomat didn't suffer any serious injuries and was receiving medical treatment.

"Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Sentop has apologized to the Russian delegation for the incident that occurred the day before on the PABSEC platform," United Russia wrote on Telegram. 

The party also noted that in his apology the Turkish speaker emphasized that the attack on the Russian diplomat was not only disrespectful to the Russian delegation but to Sentop himself who was chairing the summit and the PABSEC organization at large. 

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PABSEC is a regional organization concerned with multilateral political and economic initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation, peace, stability, and prosperity in the Black Sea region. The organization includes delegations from the parliaments of  Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

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