The Russian ambassador to Ankara Turkey was shot dead in an attack at an art gallery in the Turkish capital on Monday by a gunman shouting “Don’t forget Aleppo”.
A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed the death of envoy Andrei Karlov, which marked one of the most serious spillovers of the Syria conflict into Turkey.
Russia is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its air strikes were instrumental in helping Syrian forces end rebel resistance last week in the northern city of Aleppo.
The Anadolu news agency said the gunman had been “neutralized” soon after the attack, Relations between Moscow and Ankara have long been fraught over the conflict, with the two supporting opposing sides.
The attacker was smartly dressed in black suit and tie, and standing behind the ambassador as he made a speech at the art exhibition, a person at the scene told Reuters.
“He took out his gun and shot the ambassador from behind. We saw him lying on the floor and then we ran out,” said the witness, who asked not to be identified.
A photograph showed four people including what appeared to be the ambassador lying on the floor.
Russia and Turkey have both been involved in the conflict in Syria, which borders Turkey. Turkey has been a staunch opponent of Assad, while Russia has deployed troops and its air force in support of the Syrian leader.
The U.S. State Department, involved in diplomatic contacts with Russia in an attempt to resolve a refugee crisis unfolding around the city of Aleppo, condemned the attack.
Witness
Bahar Bakir, the diplomatic correspondent for the Haberturk Newspaper, was in the art gallery in Ankara when the shooting happened, and has described what he saw.
“A person who shouted ‘Allah-u Akbar’ [God is great, in Arabic] behind the ambassador said: ‘You killed civilians in Syria, you will not get away with this’,” he said.
“He took out his gun and pointed it at the ambassador first and then to everyone else in the room. We lay down in panic. I saw the attacker pointing the gun towards [the] ceiling and the ambassador lying on the ground unfortunately.
“The exhibit hall was on second storey and I went down running. I saw wounded people who fell on the ground with me.”
Attacker ‘worked at Ankara police’
Turkey’s Interior Minister has confirmed that the gunman who shot and killed Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was a police officer at Ankara’s riot police.
He has been identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, born in 1994, AP news agency reports.
The ministry added that three other people were wounded in the attack, none in serious condition. And that one had already been released.