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The gunman - identified by
Turkish officials as Mevlut Mert Altıntas - was a police officer who used police
identification to enter Ankara's Centre for Contemporary Arts.
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| Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov pictured moments before the shooting |
The 22-year-old had been a
member of Ankara's elite anti-riot police for two-and-a-half years.
After killing the
ambassador he reportedly shouted: "Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget
Syria! As long as our brothers are not safe, you will not enjoy safety.
"Whoever has a share
in this oppression will pay for it one-by-one.
"Only death will take
me away from here."
Prosecutors said
authorities raided an address linked to the shooter and his family, and Turkish
media said the gunman's father, mother and sister had been detained for
questioning.
A senior security official
told Reuters there are "very strong signs" that the gunman belonged
to the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who was accused of
orchestrating a failed coup in July.
The unnamed official said
the current investigation was focused on the gunman's links to the network.
One of Gulen's advisors
strongly denied the allegations.
In a televised address
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the most powerful ally of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad, said the assassination was a "provocation" aimed at
undermining the "peace process" in Syria.
Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, a staunch opponent of Assad, also spoke on TV and said the
attack was an attempt to disrupt Turkey-Russia relations.
Both revealed they have
agreed to strengthen ties and launch a joint investigation into the assassination
to determine if the gunman was following orders.
Turkey and Russia have
backed opposite sides in the Syrian war. Russia's air strikes were instrumental
in helping Syrian forces end rebel resistance in war-torn Aleppo this month.
The assassination and
aftermath were captured on camera, with horrific footage showing Mr. Karlov
speaking at a podium before falling to the floor as gunshots were heard.
Photos showed the attacker
standing behind Mr Karlov with his hands clasped before pulling out a handgun in
his right hand and opening fire.
The gunman extended his
right arm and pointed the gun at Mr Karlov, and then gestured with his left
index finger pointed into the air after shooting the ambassador multiple times.
Witnesses were heard
screaming in terror as they ran out of the art gallery, and the gunman was
heard shouting slogans as he pointed his finger in the air and pointed his gun
towards the fleeing crowd.
He also smashed framed
photographs hanging on the art gallery's walls.
Photos and video published
online by Turkish media showed Mr Karlov and a second person on the floor after
being shot at the opening of a photography exhibition called "Russia in
the Eyes of Turks".
The event was sponsored by
the Russian Embassy in Ankara.
Three others were wounded
as the shooting continued and people fled for their lives.
A witness told Reuters:
"He took out his gun and shot the ambassador from behind.
"We saw him lying on
the floor and then we ran out."
Turkey's state-run Anadolu
news agency said the gunman was killed in a 15 minute shootout with police
after he made his way to the second floor of the art gallery.
The Kremlin said Putin was
holding an emergency meeting in the wake of the assassination.
He spoke to Erdogan by
telephone within hours of the attack.
Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "We regard this as a terrorist act.
"Terrorism will not
win and we will fight against it decisively."
The shooting occurred a
day before Russia was set to host a foreign ministers' meeting on the crisis in
Syria with Turkey and Iran.
Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Çavusoglu was travelling to Moscow at the time of the shooting, and the
trilateral meeting is still scheduled to go ahead as planned.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry
said it will not allow the shooting to "cast a shadow" over
Turkey-Russia relations, expressing sadness and condemning the "lowly
terrorist attack".
Mr. Karlov, who was
married and had a son, had been Russia's ambassador to Turkey since 2013 and
previously served as ambassador to North Korea from 2001 to 2006.
He is the first foreign
diplomat to be murdered in Turkey since 1971, when Israeli consul-general in
Istanbul, Efraim Elrom, was kidnapped and shot dead by militants.
Shortly after Mr Karlov's
death was announced governments around the world condemned the attack.
Foreign Secretary Boris
Johnson said on Twitter: "Shocked to hear of despicable murder of Russia's
Ambassador to Turkey.
"My thoughts are with
his family. I condemn this cowardly attack."
In a statement, the White
House said: “The United States strongly condemns the assassination of the
Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, in Ankara today, which reportedly
also left others wounded.
“Our thoughts and prayers
are with the families and loved ones of Ambassador Karlov and the other
victims, and we offer our condolences to the Russian people and Government.
“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.”
The US State Department
issued a warning to American tourists in or travelling to Ankara, tweeting:
"Reports of shooting near US Embassy Ankara - US citizens advised to avoid
Embassy area until further notice."
The travel warning
referenced the shooting at the art gallery, which is near the US Embassy, not a
second incident, the @TravelGov Twitter account later clarified.
In a statement published
by state media Syria condemned the killing as a "cowardly" attack and
offered condolences to Mr Karlov's family and the Russian people.
Russia is Syria's most
powerful ally and has played a major role in the Syrian government's attempts
to eradicate rebel groups across the country.
In recent weeks
pro-government forces have made rapid advances on rebel-held territory in the
devastated city of Aleppo, leaving many people dead or wounded.
After rebels were driven
into an enclave in eastern Aleppo after heavy bombing a ceasefire was brokered
by Russian and Turkish officials.
The deal included the
ongoing evacuation of thousands of rebels and civilians, including women and
children, from Aleppo to rebel-held territory in Idlib province in
north-western Syria.
Turkey's relationship with
Russia has been strained in recent years amid the crisis in Syria and after
Turkish forces downed a Russian fighter jet along the border with Syria in
November last year.
Russia denied Turkey's
accusation that the fighter jet had entered Turkish air space.
Since late June efforts
have been underway to repair the relationship, with Putin and Erdogan meeting a
number of times.
Turkey has struggled with
a string of attacks by Islamist and Kurdish militants but the killing of a
Russian envoy is expected to resonate through the region.
Since a failed coup in
July, Erdogan has been purging the police of supporters of Gulen, an exiled
cleric and former ally, whom he characterises as the chief terrorist threat to
Turkey.
The government says Gulen,
who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999,
created a "parallel network" in the police, military, judiciary and
civil service aimed at overthrowing the state. The cleric denies this.
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