Agency Report
A Turkish policeman has shot dead Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, apparently in protest at Russia’s involvement in Aleppo.
The killer has been identified as Mevlut Mert Aydintas, 22, a member of the Ankara riot police. It was not clear if he had links to any group.
The incident happened a day after protests in Turkey over Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey’s president said the attack was aimed at hurting ties with Russia.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and, in a video message, said that they both agreed it was an act of “provocation”.
He said that those who wanted to harm relations between the two countries “would not achieve it”.
In televised remarks, Mr Putin said the act was “undoubtedly a provocation aimed at disrupting the normalisation” of bilateral ties and the “peace process in Syria”.
A group of Russian investigators will arrive in Turkey to look into the case, Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The ambassador had been attending a photo exhibition called “Russia as seen by Turks”.
Video of the event shows Mr Karlov making a speech when gunshots ring out. Eight bullets are said to have been fired.
The camera pulls back to show a smartly dressed gunman, wearing a suit and tie, waving a pistol and shouting in Arabic and Turkish.
He can be heard yelling “don’t forget about Aleppo, don’t forget about Syria” and uses the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). He is said to have died in a shootout with police soon afterwards, but details have not been given.
Mr Karlov was rushed to hospital but his death was later confirmed by the Russian foreign ministry.
Credit BBC.Com
