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posted by on Monday December 19 2016, @09:17PM   Printer-friendly

The New York Times is reporting:

Russia's ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an Ankara art exhibit on Monday evening by a lone Turkish gunman shouting "God is great!" and "don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" in what Russia called a terrorist attack.

The gunman, who was described by Ankara's mayor as a policeman, also wounded at least three others in the assault, which was captured on Turkish video. Turkish officials said he was killed by other officers in a shootout.

Reuters adds:

"The attack comes at a bad time: Moscow and Ankara have only recently restored diplomatic ties after Turkey downed a Russian aircraft in November 2015," the Stratfor think-tank said.

"Though the attack will strain relations between the two countries, it is not likely to rupture them altogether."

[...] Tensions have escalated in recent weeks as Russian-backed Syrian forces have fought for control of the eastern part of Aleppo, triggering a stream of refugees.


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  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Monday December 19 2016, @09:21PM

    by Arik (4543) on Monday December 19 2016, @09:21PM (#443342) Journal
    Business insider has some detail on what is meant when they say that the attacker was a cop.

    "Turkey's interior minister identified the gunman as 22-year-old Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, a member of the Ankara police department's riot unit who graduated from İzmir Rüştü Ünsal Police Academy in 2014. "

    Apparently he used his police ID to bypass security.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/russias-ambassador-to-turkey-has-reportedly-been-shot-in-ankara-2016-12
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    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
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  • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday December 20 2016, @01:50PM

    by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday December 20 2016, @01:50PM (#443760) Homepage

    According to one source on the spot (not sure where I saw this by now), he WAS security; they were using off-duty local police.

    Video and timeline:

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/12/19/russian-ambassador-turkey-shot-speech-ankara/ [breitbart.com]

    ====
    His cries during the assassination have been translated, according to a report at Business Insider. At first, he shouted in Arabic: “We’ve made an oath to Mohammed to die in martyrdom, [it is] revenge for Syria and Aleppo.”

    Altintas then switched to Turkish and shouted, “Don’t forget Aleppo. Don’t forget Syria… You won’t be safe. Only my dead body will leave here.”
    ====

    --
    And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Arik on Tuesday December 20 2016, @02:43PM

      by Arik (4543) on Tuesday December 20 2016, @02:43PM (#443800) Journal
      Putin's response: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-russia-diplomat-putin-idUSKBN1482B3
      --
      If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday December 20 2016, @03:55PM

        by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday December 20 2016, @03:55PM (#443840) Homepage

        Putin is no dummy. And probably has much more direct reports than any western news source.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
        • (Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday December 20 2016, @08:16PM

          by Arik (4543) on Tuesday December 20 2016, @08:16PM (#444012) Journal
          Reckon this will change anything?

          http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/top-russian-diplomat-petr-polshikov-found-shot-dead-at-moscow-home-a3424511.html
          --
          If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
          • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday December 20 2016, @09:25PM

            by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday December 20 2016, @09:25PM (#444046) Homepage

            Doubt it. From what I've heard it's coincidental.

            --
            And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
            • (Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday December 21 2016, @01:03AM

              by Arik (4543) on Wednesday December 21 2016, @01:03AM (#444146) Journal
              Probably.

              After Obama went and said this: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/15/obama-threatens-retaliation-against-russia-election-hacking/95501584/ they might be a bit more prone to conspiracy theories than before however.
              --
              If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
              • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday December 21 2016, @01:48AM

                by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday December 21 2016, @01:48AM (#444161) Homepage

                Yeah, that was just dumb. Hopefully Putin will remain patient and will just wait for the nonsense to leave office.

                --
                And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.