Assassin: We die in Aleppo, you die here
Chilling message as Russian ambassador shot dead
A SPECIAL forces officer shouted slogans about Syria’s civil war after assassinating Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition.
Ambassador Andrei Karlov, 62, was making a speech in the country’s capital Ankara when Mevlut Mert Altintas – a member of Turkey’s elite police riot squad – fired at least eight shots.
“Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria. We die in Aleppo, you die here,” the 22-year-old assassin shouted, referring to Russian bombardments which have helped drive rebels from areas of Aleppo.
He also shouted “Allahu akbar” – “God is great” – and continued in Arabic: “We are the descendants of those who supported the Prophet Mohammad, for jihad.”
Altintas approached Mr Karlov as he lay on the ground at the Russian Embassy sponsored photo exhibition and shot him again.
Images showed his body lying on the ground as Altintas, dressed in a suit, waved the gun in the air as people ran for cover.
He climbed to the second floor of the building before being killed during a 15 minute shoot-out with officers.
Altintas’s body was later pictured lying on the gallery’s floor next to a bullet-ridden wall.
The ambassador’s wife was ushered away from the scene in tears.
The gunman was thought to have links to the network of US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Glen, who was behind a failed coup attempt in Turkey in the summer. He was reportedly off-duty at the time of the incident.
The gunman’s home in Ankara was raided and Altintas’s mother and sister were detained.
Reports suggested the officer may have infiltrated Mr Karlov’s security detail during the visit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the killing was a “provocation” aimed at undermining the “peace process” in Syria.
He said a joint investigation had been launched to determine who, if anyone, gave orders to Altintas.
Ankara mayor Melih Gokcek told reporters outside the exhibition centre the attack had aimed to disrupt newly re- established relations between Turkey and Russia.
A White House spokesman said the US “strongly condemns” the assassination.
He added: “The heinous attack on a member of the diplomatic corps is unacceptable, and we stand united with Russia and Turkey in our determination to confront terrorism in all of its forms.”
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tweeted: “Shocked to hear of despicable murder of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey.
“My thoughts are with his family. I condemn this cowardly attack.”
The attack came a day before a meeting of Russian, Turkish and Iranian foreign and defence ministers in Moscow to discuss Syria.
Russia and Iran have backed Syrian president Bashar Assad throughout the near six-year conflict, while Turkey has supported Mr Assad’s opponents.
“It’s a tragic day in the history of our country and Russian diplomacy,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in televised comments.
“Ambassador Karlov has made a lot of personal contributions to the development of ties with Turkey.
“He has done a lot to overcome a crisis in bilateral relations,” she said.
“He was a man who put his heart and his soul into his job.
“It’s a terrible loss for us and also the world.”
Mr 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.