Who was Andrey Karlov? Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara – here’s what we know
Andrei Karlov was shot at a photo exhibition by an off-duty cop who shouted out “Aleppo” and “revenge” as he fired
THE RUSSIAN ambassador to Turkey was shot in the back and killed as he gave a speech at an Ankara art gallery by an off-duty police officer.
But who was he? And what were the motivations behind the attack?
Andrei Karlov was a Russian diplomat who took up the role of Ambassador to Turkey on July 12, 2013.
As a career diplomat, he graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry in 1992.
Previously he had served as Russia's Ambassador to North Korea between 2001 and 2006, and was fluent in Korean.
'A terrorist act'
The Russian foreign ministry confirmed the death of Mr Karlov, calling it a "terrorist act" after he was shot while making a speech at the The Modern Art Centre in Ankara.
Relations between Moscow and Ankara have long been strained over the conflict in Syria, with the two nations supporting opposing sides in the war.
Russia is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its air strikes helped Syrian forces end rebel resistance last week in the northern city of Aleppo.
Turkey has been repairing ties with Moscow after shooting down a Russian warplane over Syria last year.
"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."
'Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!'
The Ankara mayor said on Twitter the gunman as a 22-year-old police officer - now known to be Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş - who was off-duty at the time.
"He took out his gun and shot the ambassador from behind. We saw him lying on the floor and then we ran out," said a witness, who asked not to be identified.
A video 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 in the air.
A cameraman at the scene said gunfire rang out for some time after the attack, and the gunman was later killed.
International tension rising
Erdogan contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin to brief him on the shooting, a Turkish official said.
Turkey's foreign ministry 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."
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks as Russian-backed Syrian forces have fought for control of the eastern part of Aleppo, triggering a stream of refugees.
Turkey has been hit by multiple bomb attacks that have been claimed by Kurdish militants, and beat back an attempted coup in July, where rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, warplanes and helicopters in attempt to overthrow the parliament.
Since then, the government has launched a sweeping crackdown on the judiciary, police and civil service in attempt to root out the coup plotters.
The involvement of a police officer in Monday's attack could raise questions for Ereogan about a force denuded now of a number of senior and rank-and-file officers.
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