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Russia's Ambassador to Turkey Is Shot, Killed at Photo Exhibit0:43
Russia's ambassador to Turkey was fatally shot Monday at an art exhibition, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Andrey Karlov was speaking at a museum in the
capital city of Ankara when a man dressed in a suit and tie shouted
"Allahu Akbar," an NBC producer and an Associated Press photographer
reported.
An
unnamed gunman gestures after shooting the Russian Ambassador to
Turkey, Andrei Karlov, at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey, on Dec. 19,
2016. Burhan Ozbilici / AP
The gunman fired eight shots and also said some
words in Russian and smashed several of the photos at the exhibition,
according to the AP photographer, who was in the audience.
But an NBC producer in Istanbul said the man
also addressed Karlov in Turkish before he started shooting, that he
mentioned the civil war ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, and that he got
into the the museum after producing a police ID of some kind.
Turkish police then shot the gunman dead, the AP said, citing the Turkish station NTV.
Karlov was rushed to a local hospital and a
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said he was dead, the AP reported.
NBC News has also not confirmed that information. RELATED: Turkey's Erdogan Meets Russia's Putin for 'New Page' in Restored Relations
The shooting happened a day before Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was supposed to head to Moscow for
talks about the Syrian civil war with Russian and Iranian diplomats.
Relations between Russia and Turkey have been
tense in recent years over the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. Last year,
Moscow cut ties after the Turks shot down a Russian jet on the Syrian border.
Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov (R) gives a speech as he visits an art fair in Ankara, Turkey, on Dec.19, 2016. Ecenur Colak / Anadolu Agency Via Getty Images
But in recent months there has been a thaw.
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally visited Turkey in October to
push for revival of a stalled natural gas pipeline project.
Karlov, who was born in 1954, has been based in
Arkara for three years, according to a resume posted on the Russian
embassy site. He is married and father to a son.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said they were aware of the shooting.
"We condemn this act of violence, whatever its source," Kirby said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."
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