Watch: Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov shot dead in Ankara, Turkey

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Watch: Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov shot dead in Ankara, Turkey

8:54 CAT | 19 Dec 2016

RTE / Andrei Karlov was speaking at an art exhibition opening in Ankara when the shooting took place

Russia’s ambassador to Ankara has been killed in a gun attack in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Police later killed the assailant, Turkish station NTV reported.

Andrey Karlov, 62, was several minutes into a speech at a embassy-sponsored photo exhibition when a man in a suit shot the diplomat in the back from close range multiple times on Monday evening.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the announcement of Karlov’s death in a live televised statement.

The assailant was a 22-year-old off-duty police officer who worked in the Turkish capital, Melih Gokcek, Ankara’s mayor, said.

The man approached Karlov as he lay on the ground and shot him at least one more time at close range, according to an AP photographer at the scene.

The attacker also smashed several of the framed photos hung for the exhibition but later let the stunned guests out of the venue, according to local media.

The gunman referenced the situation in Aleppo after he shot the ambassador

Several media outlets reported that a gun fight ensued after Karlov was shot.

Local broadcaster NTV television said at least three people were wounded and were taken to the hospital.

Mayor Gokcek told reporters outside the exhibition centre that the “heinous” attack was aimed to disrupt newly-re-established relations between Turkey and Russia.

Relations between Russia and Turkey were badly strained by the downing of a Russian warplanes at the Syrian border in November 2015, but Turkey’s apology earlier this year helped overcome the rift.

The leaders of the two countries, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have held several meetings in recent months and spoken frequently over the phone.

Russia and Turkey have co-sponsored the evacuation of civilians and rebels from Aleppo and also discussed the prospect of organising a new round of peace talks in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.

‘Don’t forget Aleppo’

The assailant referenced the situation in Aleppo after he shot the ambassador in the back.

“Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria,” the attacker said in Turkish right after he shot down the ambassador, as seen on a video shared by Turkish media from the scene.

“Whoever took part in this cruelty will pay the price, one by one … Only death will take me from here,” the man said, while carrying a handgun.

He then continued in Arabic, saying: “We are the descendants of those who supported the Prophet Muhammad, for jihad.”

Diego Cupolo, a photojournalist in Ankara, told Al Jazeera that there were around a hundred armed soldiers in camouflage and police officers at the scene, along with armored vehicles.

The attack came a day before a meeting of Russian, Turkish and Iranian foreign and defence ministers in Moscow to discuss Syria.

Those talks will go ahead on Tuesday despite the murder of Karlov, the Interfax news agency cited Leonid Slutsky, a senior parliamentarian, as saying.

The Russian ambassador to Turkey was a career diplomat.

Karlov 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.