Breaking: Russian Ambassador to Turkey shot in Ankara

Other reports indicate that the gunman identified himself as a policeman in order to get into the art exhibit. The Mayor of Ankara has confirmed that he was a policeman.

The same report noted that some of the artwork was damaged during the attack.

Russia, Iran and Turkey are in the process of some very high-level meetings designed to help create a peace settlement in Syria. The US regime and its satellites have been excluded.

There is, therefore, every chance that a peace settlement - say a conference or such - can be successful.

I don't think this assassination will change that.

CV of the late Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov (1954-2016)

Embassy of the RF in Turkey wrote:

Karlov Andrey Gennadyevich, born in 1954 in Moscow.

In 1976 graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, in 1992 graduated from Diplomatic Academy.

Started his diplomatic career in 1976.

Worked on different positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and Russia, as well as foreign missions.

1979 – 1984 and 1986 – 1991 – Embassy of the USSR to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

1992 – 1997 – Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Korea

2001 - 2006 – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

2007 - 2013 – Deputy Director General, Director General for Consular Affairs.

Since July 2013 – Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Turkey.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Speaks English and Korean.

Married, has a son.

R.I.P.

Wikipedia, ever the right-wing source of information, has a lengthy quote from the now dead assassin, his name, and so on. I won't be surprised if, by 6 pm, US MSM has full, glossy reports on him. But call me cynical.

Let's hope the US State Department wasn't foolish enough to post their condolences before the assassination took place. That might be embarrassing.

Yeah, it is strange. Let's wait and see. The other thing is how this story is shaping up as another "lone gunman" story. I think I will reserve judgment on that as well.

The UN Security Council will discuss this today. Of course, some things we will never know as these governments talk among themselves.

There was another report of gunfire around the US Embassy, as a result of which the Embassy was warning Americans to stay away.

For the above quotes see https://www.rt.com/news/370831-putin-russian-ambassador-ankara/

"Diplomats like this are the talkers, the people who may keep countries from fighting. It is sad to lose any to violence."

John Donne wrote:

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if Clod be washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine own were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Webgear wrote:

I am finding it very difficult to believe that Russian security would allow Turkish Police and Security Forces that close to the Ambassador. Where are the Ambassador’s close protection escorts? Why didn’t they react faster?

There is something incredibly wrong with this assassination. Turkey has been in a heighten sense of security for months now, there is no way the Russians would let their Ambassador be so unprotected in such a public place.

You should have a read of TheSaker's article in which he discusses all this, makes some educated guesses about likely sponsors of the assassin, and generally criticizes both the Turkish and Russian security here. 

See A few initial short thoughts on the murder of the Russian Ambassador to Ankara

The Turkish investigators have reportedly found some Al Qaeda related materials in the home of the assassin.

I see as well that the Russian, Turkish and Iranian Foreign Ministers have been able to meet and seem to have come to some agreements on establishing a lasting peace in Syria.

Of course this should not be exaggerated - Israel still occupies the Golan Heights, and provides loving medical attention and an escape corridor for the jihadists there; the various Kurdish militias, some friendly, some not so - still control a large section of northern and eastern Syria; and the ISIS and Al Qaeda and other "jihadists", along with their Western "advisors" have their HQ in Raqqah, and strongholds in Idlib Province, Palmyra, etc.

Some of the reporters at State Department briefings have questioned the spokespersons there about whether the exclusion of the US (and its satellites) from this discussion of cessation of hostilities in Syria is embarrassing to the US. The backflips by State are quite exquisite.

The Empire will not, of course, go down anywhere without a fight. They have all the grace of a bull in a china shop. But perhaps this is quite clever by the "troika" of Russia, Iran and Turkey. You can't control the beast, just leave him out of things, do your best, and his brutal lashing out at everything that moves will subside.

There is some very obscene gloating about the death of the Ambassador in Western MSM which I won't post links to here. I think they belong in the Russophobia thread.

Brian Becker wrote:

Over a dozen people have been arrested in connection with the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara. Turkey has pointed the fingers at the Fethullah Gulen and by extension the United States as political shockwaves reverberate throughout the Middle East and the world.

I don't put much stock in the Turkish claim that the assassin was getting his orders from the Gulenists but, it should be mentioned that,  the town where he received his police training was, and is, a hotbed of Gulenist politics and activity. Undoubtedly, they had their influence. But that's not evidence.

The fact that the Gulenist leader is enjoying safety in the USA, however, should not be lost on anyone. If the Turkish claims turn out to be proved to be true, the buck will stop at the US government.  And that's a very scary prospect ... the possibility of the US regime connected to the assassination of a diplomat. The Obama regime is peevish and petulant now, their proxies whupped in Aleppo, left out of important regional peace conferences, but I have a difficult time believing they would cross that line ....

In his last press conference, US President Obama made a point of threatening this and that and specifically mentioned Russia. It's quite disturbing, though the MSM media, and Russian media as well, are remaining mum on the issue.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/radio_loud_and_clear/201612221048855739-turkey-russia-iran-agreement-is-us-out-in-the-cold-in-syria/

Here's another angle;  Did Gulen Order The Hit On The Russian Ambassador?

"The better question to ask is, “does it even matter?” Well, yes, in the sense that what matters is who’s leveling these accusations and why, not necessarily how provable they may or may not ultimately be."

Quote:

What’s important to pay attention to isn’t necessarily the veracity of these allegations, but the fact that they’re being voiced by the country’s most important politician and its top diplomat. This is the closest that a world leader can get to blaming the US for this terrorist attack without directly saying as much, which in a sense channels what the Russian suspicions have been all along.

"This is the closest that a world leader can get to blaming the US for this terrorist attack without directly saying as much ..."

Quote:

Analyzing this event from a larger angle, it’s vividly clear that Turkey is signaling that it’s completely fed up with the US and is decisively pivoting towards Eurasia, as was predicted by the author in the immediate aftermath of the failed pro-American coup attempt this summer.

Consequently, although the argument might appear to be a factually flimsy one so far, Turkey’s assertion that Gulen ordered the hit on the Russian Ambassador shouldn’t be met with mockery but with merriment by multipolar supporters because of how it powerfully represents Ankara’s rejection of Washington and its embrace of the emerging Multipolar World Order.

Andrew Korybko