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Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov shot dead in Ankara | Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov shot dead in Ankara |
(35 minutes later) | |
A gunman has shot dead Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, apparently in protest at Russia's involvement in the Syrian conflict. | A gunman has shot dead Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, apparently in protest at Russia's involvement in the Syrian conflict. |
Several other people were reportedly also injured in the attack, a day after protests in Turkey over Russia's military intervention in Syria. | Several other people were reportedly also injured in the attack, a day after protests in Turkey over Russia's military intervention in Syria. |
The killer, said to be an off-duty Turkish policeman, opened fire at point blank range as Mr Karlov made a speech. | |
Police later "neutralised" the attacker, Turkish media say. | |
Mr Karlov was rushed to hospital, reports said, but his death was later confirmed by the Russian foreign ministry. | |
"Terrorism will not pass! We will fight it resolutely," said ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. | |
"The memory of this outstanding Russian diplomat, a man who did so much to counter terrorism... will remain in our hearts forever," she said. | |
US state department spokesman John Kirby said US officials were aware of reports about the attack on the ambassador. | US state department spokesman John Kirby said US officials were aware of reports about the attack on the ambassador. |
"We condemn this act of violence, whatever its source," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family." | "We condemn this act of violence, whatever its source," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family." |
While there were protests in recent days about the situation in Aleppo, on a political level the Turkish and Russian governments have been co-operating in the ceasefire operation, the BBC's Turkey correspondent, Mark Lowen, reports. | While there were protests in recent days about the situation in Aleppo, on a political level the Turkish and Russian governments have been co-operating in the ceasefire operation, the BBC's Turkey correspondent, Mark Lowen, reports. |
Eight shots | |
According to Russian TV, the ambassador had been attending an 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. | |
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). | |
Andrei Karlov, 62, was a veteran diplomat who had served as Soviet ambassador to North Korea for much of the 1980s. | |
After the fall of the USSR in 1991, he had a posting as Russian ambassador to South Korea before returning to the North for five years in 2001. | |
Taking up the Ankara posting in July 2013, he had to grapple with a major diplomatic crisis last year when a Turkish plane shot down a Russian jet close to the Syrian border. | |
The two countries only recently mended ties after Moscow imposed damaging sanctions - notably a freeze on charter flights by Russian tourists - demanding a Turkish apology. |