Off-duty cop shoots Russian envoy over Aleppo
THE violence of Syria’s bloody civil war has had a shock repercussion beyond its borders – the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in Ankara in revenge for his country’s part in the assault on Aleppo.
Andrey Karlov, 62, was killed at an art gallery in Ankara when a gunman shot him in the back up close.
Standing over the diplomat’s body, the assassin, wearing a black suit and tie, shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria. Unless our towns are secure, you won’t enjoy security. Everyone who is involved in this will pay a price. Only death can take me from here.”
Firing more shots into the fallen ambassador’s body he declared: “We are the ones who pledged allegiance to Mohammed, to wage jihad.”
After shooting the ambassador, the gunman climbed to the second floor of the same building and a 15-minute shootout with police ensued before he was killed, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported.
Film footage taken at the scene showed the killer repeatedly gesticulating with a pistol in his hand.
There had been heavy security around Mr Karlov’s presence at the art gallery, but according to one of the guards the gunman had entered by showing a police ID card and saying that he was an officer in the public order department.
The killer was identified as Mevlut Mert Aydintas, 22, by Turkey’s Interior Minister. It appears he was a member of the Ankara riot police and off duty at the time.
Turkish special forces, it was reported, had shot the gunman dead.
The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged those behind the murder would be found and punished.
In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin held an emergency meeting with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and the heads of intelligence agencies.
“There can only be one response – stepping up the fight against terrorism. The bandits will feel this happening,” Mr Putin said.
He said he personally knew the murdered envoy.