A police officer assassinated Russia's ambassador to Turkey at an art exhibition in Ankara on Monday, officials said. The gunman shouted "Do not forget Aleppo!" as he opened fire.
The shooting of Ambassador Andrey Karlov was captured on video. Russia's foreign ministry described it as a "terror attack."
Russia has been instrumental in helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in its push to retake the eastern sector of Aleppo, which had been held by rebels for nearly four years.
Here's what we know right now:
• Russian President Vladimir Putin called the assassination a "provocation," vowing to step up security at diplomatic missions. "This murder is clearly a provocation aimed at undermining the normalization of Russia-Turkish relations as well as at undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in promoting settling the crisis in Syria," Putin said in televised remarks. "The only response we should offer to this murder is stepping up our fight against terror, and the criminals will feel the heat."
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the killing won't dampen the two countries' efforts to build a stronger relationship. "We know that this is a provocation on destroying the relationship between Turkey and Russia during this normalization process. ... All the expectation of what they want to achieve with this attack will be in vain and never happen," Erdogan said in televised remarks Monday.
• Police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas was the gunman, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a press conference. The attacker was born in 1994 in the town of Soke in Turkey's Aydin province, he said. CNN initially reported the officer was was off-duty at the time of the shooting, but Turkish government statements left his duty status Monday unclear.
