Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, has been shot and seriously injured while visiting the opening of an art gallery exhibit in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Outlets say that the art exhibit was called “Russia As Seen By Turks” and that Karlov was supposed to make a speech. Karlov was injured in the gun attack, along with three others.
Special forces have been called to contain the situation, and it’s reported that it turned into a hostage situation before the special forces finally handled it by neutralizing the shooter.
Update–12:10 PM: Russian news agency RIA is reporting the ambassador died on the scene.
Update–1:03 PM: The Turkish security forces have identified the shooter as Mert Altintas, a member of the Ankara Police Department.
What Happened?
According to reports, Andrei Karlov was attending a photo gallery exhibition called “Russia As Seen By Turks” at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Ankara’s central Çankaya district. Karlov was scheduled to make a speech there, which he began.
https://twitter.com/stratosathens/status/810890352894865408
Reportedly a gunman entered the gallery during the speech, was heard shouting “We die in Aleppo, you die here” and then opened fire. Ambassador Karlov was shot a total of five times. The gunman managed to escape, but it’s believed that the special forces have since neutralized the shooter. A photo has been posted to Twitter purporting to show the Ambassador shot.
https://twitter.com/abdbozkurt/status/810883853804077057
It’s unknown if the man in the suit with the gun is the shooter or part of Karlov’s security team. We can now confirm that the man standing up is responsible for the shooting.
**WARNING NSFW PHOTOS**
https://twitter.com/MicahGrimes/status/810897172392722432
The media reports that the gunman entered the gallery with a police ID and was part of the security escort to the ambassador. If that’s the case, they know who this guy is already.
Update–1:03 PM: The Turkish security forces have identified the shooter as Mert Altintas, a member of the Ankara Police Department.
Earlier this week, Andrei Karlov was a part of the negotiations between Russia and Syria that led to an evacuation of eastern Aleppo. He was also a central character in Turkey and Russia’s attempts at rekindling a positive relationship.
Tomorrow the Turkish, Iranian and Russian officials were scheduled to meet tomorrow about securing a partnership moving forward. It’s more than likely that this assassination will cause those plans to be significantly disrupted, meaning that terrorist groups will benefit from the chaos. Russian response into Syria is likely going to happen immediately.
Who Is Andrei Karlov?
Andrei Karlov is the Russian ambassador to Turkey. Karlov has worked a Russian diplomat since 1976 and worked directly with Turkey as the Russian ambassador since 2013.
Karlov must be a man who’s known to be a problem-solver since he was also the Russian ambassador to North Korea.
