Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov died after being shot by an unidentified gunman here late Monday, the embassy announced.
Karlov was shot while making a speech at a painting exhibition in the Turkish capital, the Russian embassy said, adding it believed that it was a radical Islamist attack.
Karlov was envoy since July 2013.
The attack comes a day before Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu heads to Moscow for talks on Syria with his Russian and Iranian counterparts.
CNN reported the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" before firing at the diplomat.
Покушение на посла России в Турции https://t.co/fZOhvqesOQ pic.twitter.com/wBwV9qTvdA
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Russia is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its air strikes were instrumental in helping Syrian forces end rebel resistance last week in the northern city of Aleppo. President Tayyip Erdogan, however, has been a vociferous opponent of Assad. “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.”
The attacker was dressed in black suit and tie, and standing behind the ambassador as he made his speech at an exhibition, a person at the scene 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,” said the witness, who asked not to be identified.
Two security sources identified the gunman as an off-duty police officer who worked in the Turkish capital. A Reuters cameraman at the scene said gunfire rang out for some time after the attack. The Anadolu news agency said the gunman had been “neutralised”, apparently killed.
A video showed the attacker shouting: “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!” As screams rang out, he could be seen pacing about and shouting as he held the gun in one hand and waved the other in the air. Another photograph showed four people including what appeared to be the ambassador lying on the floor.
