MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead by Islamic lone wolf in Ankara

Russia's ambassador to Ankara, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead by a lone wolf islamic killer

The Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was killed Monday in Ankara by a former Turkish police officer who claimed revenge for Aleppo. The attacker fired at the diplomat as he opened a photo exhibition in a central neighborhood of the Turkish capital. Moscow described the incident as a “terrorist attack”. The perpetrator was “neutralized” before he could leave the building.

“God is great! God is great! We die in Aleppo, you die here! You kill innocent people in Aleppo and Syria!,” the gunman shouted as he fired a total of eight shots, first in the air and then at Karlov.

The mayor of Ankara said the attacker was a 22-year-old man from Aydin (north-west of Turkey), who served since 2014 in Ankara Police and was discharged following the alleged coup d'etat earlier this year. He studied at Anatolia High School, one of the best in the country, and later at the University of Izmir.

Except for the cry of “God is great,” which he made in Arabic, he pronounced his parliament in Turkish and, as an unmistakable sign, raised the index of his left hand, while still holding the pistol with his other hand, underlining his profession of Islamic faith.

The young man was reportedly “neutralized”, while other sources preferred to use the term “eliminated” by the police. The attack took place in a well-known gallery in the Cankaya neighbourhood, where most of the embassies are concentrated.

The Turkish authorities gave orders to reinforce security around the Russian legation in Ankara, given that in the last week there were large demonstrations before the consulates of Russia and Iran promising revenge for Aleppo. Moscow and Tehran support the regime of President Bashar Assad in the Syrian war.

Moscow demanded that Ankara take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the legation, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zajárova said in a televised live message confirming the ambassador's death. Karlov, 62, had studied at the Institute of International Relations in Moscow and had been ambassador to South Korea from 2001 to 2006.