Ankara: The Russian ambassador to Turkey has been shot in the back and killed, as he gave a speech at an Ankara art gallery on Monday, by an off-duty police officer who shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of envoy Andrei Karlov, calling it a "terrorist act".
Gunman kills Russian ambassador to Turkey
Andrei Karlov was giving a speech at a photo exhibition in Ankara when the gunman opened fire on Monday.
The attacker was smartly dressed in black suit and tie and was photographed standing, alone, behind the ambassador as he made a speech at the art exhibition.
"He took out his gun and shot the ambassador from behind. We saw him lying on the floor and then we ran out," a witness, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. People took refuge in adjoining rooms as the shooting continued.
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Video footage and photographs showed the ambassador among four people lying on the floor following the attack. He was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later, officials said.
The footage showed the attacker shouting: "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" and "Allahu Akbar [God is Greatest]" as screams rang out. He paced about and shouted as he held the gun in one hand and waved the other hand in the air.
"We die in Aleppo, you die here," the man yelled before firing several shots into the air. "You will not taste security until our towns are secure. Do not forget about Syria and Aleppo. Whoever is part of it will get their punishment."
A Reuters cameraman at the scene said gunfire rang out for some time after the attack. The gunman was killed by security forces.
Attacker a Turkish police officer
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan identified the attacker as 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, who had worked for Ankara riot police for two and a half years. CNN Turk TV said police had detained his sister and mother in the south-western Turkish province of Aydin following the shooting.
Security sources said he was off duty and some witnesses said there was no security scanning machine at the entrance. There were also unconfirmed reports he was part of the ambassador's security detail or that he was posing as a member of the security team.
Soylu also said that three other people were wounded in the attack, none seriously, and that one had been released already.
"We regard this as a terrorist act," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. "Terrorism will not win and we will fight against it decisively."
It was not clear whether the gunman was a lone operator, driven perhaps by popular discontent over Russian action in Syria or affiliated to a group like Islamic State.
Supporters of President Erdogan were quick to draw a connection to July's attempted coup against Erdogan, which was followed by a purge of tens of thousands of suspected political opponents.
A senior security official said there were "very strong signs" the gunman belonged to the network of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says orchestrated the failed coup in July. Erdogan has denounced Gulen as a terrorist, but the cleric, a former ally, denies the accusation.
The mayor of Ankara, Ibrahim Melih Gokcek, who is from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, claimed the shooter was a Gulen follower.
Gulen described the killing as a "heinous act of terror" that pointed to a deterioration of security in Turkey resulting from Erdogan's wideranging purge of police as well as the army, judiciary and media following the coup bid.
The government says Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999, created a "parallel network" in the police, military, judiciary and civil service aimed at overthrowing the state.
Turkey has been hit by a series of attacks in recent years blamed on groups including the Islamic State and Kurdish separatists, who have battled the government for decades for greater autonomy in Turkey's southeastern regions.
Russia and Turkey's troubled relationship
The attack appeared to represent the latest violent spillover of the Syrian conflict into neighbouring Turkey. Suicide bombings linked to the fighting in Syria have become almost commonplace in Turkey, often causing mass casualties, but this was the first deadly attack on a senior diplomat that was seemingly motivated by the brutal and multi-sided war next door.
Russia and Turkey, which have both intervened militarily in Syria, are on opposite sides of the conflict. Russian firepower has helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cling to power and recapture opposition-held east Aleppo; Turkey has allied itself with some of the rebels seeking to topple him. It has long sought Assad's ouster and has been repairing ties with Moscow after shooting down a Russian warplane over Syria last year.
The shooting incident raises concerns about the Turkish police force currently being purged after a failed July coup.
Erdogan said on Monday he had agreed in a telephone call with Russia's Vladimir Putin that their cooperation and solidarity in fighting terrorism should be even stronger after the killing of the Russian ambassador.
Erdogan called the killing a clear provocation aimed at damaging relations between Turkey and Russia at a time of normalisation.
The assassination came on the heels of near-daily protests outside the Russian Embassy in Ankara as well as the consulate in Istanbul. Thousands of Turks and Syrians have been holding rallies at the Russian diplomatic outposts, along with the Iranian Consulate and Embassy, over the two governments' war roles in support of Assad. They have escalated amid reports of heavy civilian casualties in Aleppo during the recapture of the city's eastern sector from the rebels.
Scores of Turkish police were deployed at a protest last week at the Russian consulate on Istanbul's main central avenue that drew thousands. Protesters chanted "Putin, murderer! Russia, murderer! You will get your punishment!"
Adding to the tension, there were reports of gunshots fired near the US. Embassy in Ankara, and the State Department warned Americans to avoid the area.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was due to meet with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Russia on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Syria. Officials said the meeting would still go on, despite the attack.
Soylu said it would not allow the attack to cast a shadow over Ankara's relations with Moscow.
"The attack comes at a bad time: Moscow and Ankara have only recently restored diplomatic ties after Turkey downed a Russian aircraft in November 2015," the Stratfor think-tank said.
"Though the attack will strain relations between the two countries, it is not likely to rupture them altogether."
The US 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.
Turkey has been hit by a series of attacks in recent years blamed on groups including the Islamic State and Kurdish separatists, who have battled the government for decades for greater autonomy in Turkey's southeastern regions.
The involvement of a police officer in Monday's attack could also raise questions for Erdogan about a force denuded now of a number of senior and rank-and-file officers.
World leaders outraged
Ambassador Karlov started his diplomatic career during the Soviet era in 1976 and had previously served at Russian embassies in Seoul and Pyongyang, North Korea. He took the post in Ankara in July 2013, according to the embassy's website.
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power described the attack as "savage."
Strongly condemn savage attack on #Russia Amb to #Turkey Andrey Karlov & several other ppl. Our thoughts are w/the victims & their families.
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) December 19, 2016
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also tweeted his shock.
Shocked to hear of despicable murder of #Russia's Ambassador to #Turkey. My thoughts are with his family. I condemn this cowardly attack.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 19, 2016
US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the killing and offered help with the investigation.
"We stand ready to offer assistance to Russia and Turkey as they investigate this despicable attack, which was also an assault on the right of all diplomats to safely and securely advance and represent their nations around the world," Kerry said in a statement.
Reuters, Tribune, AP