The man who shot and killed Russia’s ambassador to Turkey has been identified as a 22-year-old off duty police officer.
Ambassador Andrey Karlov was shot and killed by the man, who is reported to have worked in the Turkish capital, while attending an exhibition at a photo gallery in Ankara this afternoon.
And Reuters quote ‘security sources’ as having confirmed that the suspect – who was ‘neutralised’ by Turkish Special Forces – was a member of the country’s police force.
“Today in Ankara as a result of an attack, the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkey, Andrey Gennadyevich Karlov, received a wound from which he died,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“We regard this as a terrorist act.”
A witness, who asked not to be named, described what happened.
“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.
A video is believed to have shown the attacker shouting, “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!” before he was ‘neutralised’ by security forces.
Turkey has been a staunch opponent of Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria, while Russia are known allies of the Syrian leader and played a pivotal role in the recent decimation of Aleppo.
