Russian ambassador to Turkey shot and killed in Ankara


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot and killed Monday while attending an art opening in the city of Ankara, local media reports. Russian media reports Andrei Karlov, a career diplomat for Russia, died after he was apparently shot by a lone gunman at an exhibit opening at the Cankaya Art Center and Concert Hall.
A spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry said Karlov was taken to a hospital with serious injuries following the attack, The Associated Press reports, while Russian media later said Karlov did not survive. Police reportedly neutralized the assailant, and Turkish news network NTV said that authorities killed the man.
Turkish officials said the gunman claimed to be a police officer when he entered the building, The Guardian reports. Some eyewitnesses have told media that the man shouted "Aleppo" — the name of the besieged Syrian city currently at the center of Russian-Turkish cease-fire negotiations — as he shot the diplomat. An AP photographer said the man shouted "allahu Akbar," the Arabic phrase for "God is the greatest," and fired at least eight shots. Graphic video of the shooting is visible here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The attack comes just one day after protests broke out in Turkey over Russia's military intervention in the Syrian civil war, the BBC reports, and one day before the Turkish foreign minister is set to meet with Russian and Iranian officials in Moscow. Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that the Russian foreign ministry is in contact with officials in Ankara regarding the attack. Kimberly Alters
This is a breaking news story and has been updated throughout.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Fernando Botero obituary: artist of 'whimsical rotundity'
Obituary Colombian painter and sculptor was known for his 'exuberant style'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Protective order
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Astronauts return after circling Earth thousands of times while stuck in space
Speed read The astronauts were stranded on the International Space Station after their return capsule was hit by space junk
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published