Russian Ambassador To Turkey Andrei Karlov Shot Dead In Ankara

Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was shot by a Turkish police officer shouting about Syria’s civil war in the capital of Ankara on Monday, according to witnesses and officials. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed Ambassador Andrey Karlov, 62, was later pronounced dead from his injuries, and called the shooting a terrorist act.

Turkish police officers responding to the incident fatally shot the gunman, who was identified by officials as Mevlut Mert Aydintas, aged 22. Turkish officials confirmed earlier reports that Aydintas was himself a police officer, working riot detail in Ankara.

CBS News

The leaders of Turkey and Russia said Karlo’s killing has been intended to ruin Russia-Turkey ties. Speaking in televised remarks during a meeting with senior officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a “provocation aimed at derailing Russia-Turkey ties and the peace process in Syria.” 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a video message being shown on several Turkish TV channels, said that “this is a provocation to damage the normalization process of Turkish-Russian relations. But both the Russian and Turkish administrations have the determination not to fall for this provocation.” 

Both leaders said Russian investigators will be part of the official probe into Karlov’s assassination. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey a “despicable attack.” 

Kerry said that the killing was “an assault on the right of all diplomats to safely and securely advance and represent their nations around the world.” 

He said that the U.S. is ready to offer help to Russia and Turkey in the investigation of the attack. 

The ambassador was several minutes into a speech at an embassy-sponsored photo exhibition in the capital, Ankara, when Aydintas, wearing a suit and tie, shouted “Allahu Akbar” and fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience. The attacker also said some words in Russian and smashed several of the photos hung for the exhibition.

“Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!” Aydintas shouted in Turkish, referring to the Syrian city where Russian bombardments have helped drive rebels from areas they had occupied for years during the war.

He also shouted “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for “God is great” and continued in Arabic: “We are the descendants of those who supported the Prophet Muhammad, for jihad.”

The gunman approached Karlov as he lay on the ground and shot him at least one more time at close range, according to the AP photographer. The attacker also smashed several of the framed photos hung for the exhibition. There was panic as people ran for cover. Three other people were wounded in the attack, NTV said. 

The attack comes a day before a meeting of Russian, Turkish and Iranian foreign and defense ministers in Moscow to discuss Syria. Russia and Iran have backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nearly six-year conflict, while Turkey has supported Assad’s foes. 

Senior Russian lawmakers are describing the killing of Karlov as a provocation aimed to derail a rapprochement between the two nations. 

Leonid Slutsky, the head of the foreign affairs committee at the lower house of Russian parliament, said that unspecified opponents of Russia “are making desperate attempts to spoil ties between Russia and Turkey, but those attempts will fail.” 

He and other senior lawmakers called for even closer cooperation with Turkey and refrained from advising Russians to avoid visiting Turkey. 

Karlov was shot “when an unidentified assailant opened chaotic gunfire during a public event in Ankara,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. She said Russia was in contact with Turkish officials about the incident. 

Russia and Turkey recently negotiated a cease-fire in the Syrian civil war between rebels and the Assad regime fighting over the city of Aleppo. The cease-fire has led to the negotiated surrender of rebels that had held the city since nearly the beginning of the five-year-old conflict.

If the evacuation from Aleppo is completed later on Monday, it will close an important chapter in Syria’s civil war, which Russia is involved in largely due to its long-standing alliance with the ruling Assad clan, and Turkey is involved in largely due to its long border with the country.

Earlier this year, there was a diplomatic crisis between the two nations after Turkey shot down a Russian jet Ankara said had violated their airspace during maneuvers over Syria.  

Turkey has also struggled with a series of deadly terrorist attacks recently, from both Kurdish rebels and groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS.)

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Karlov began his diplomatic career in 1976, and has previously served in North Korea. He became Russian Ambassador to Turkey in July of 2013.