Russian Ambassador to Turkey Assassinated

 A Russian official says that the country's ambassador to Turkey has died after being shot by a gunman in Ankara.  Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the announcement in a live televised statement.

 

Ambassador Andrei Karlov was several minutes into a speech at an embassy-sponsored exhibition when he was shot.

 

The gunman who killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey at a photo exhibition in Ankara shouted in Turkish "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria!" The man then yelled: "Stand back! Stand back! Only death will take me out of here. Anyone who has a role in this oppression will die one by one." The gunman also shouted "Allahu akbar," the Arabic phrase for "God is great." Police later killed the gunman, according to reports.

 

 

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, while Turkey has supported Assad's foes.

 

Karlov was 62 and he joined the diplomatic service in 1976. He served as Russia's ambassador to Pyongyang in 2001-2006, and later worked as the chief of the Foreign Ministry's consular department. He had served as the ambassador to Turkey since 2013.