The gunman near the body of Andrey Karlov at
a gallery in Ankara, on Dec. 19.
Photographer: Burhan Ozbilici/AP Photo
Russia’s ambassador was shot
dead in the Turkish capital on Monday in an assassination apparently linked to
Syria’s civil war, heightening tensions over a conflict that’s drawn in almost
all the region’s main powers.
Andrey Karlov was shot in the back at an art exhibit in
Ankara on Monday and died from his injuries, according to the Russian Foreign
Ministry. “Allahu akbar,” the gunman shouted, and then “don’t forget Aleppo” --
a reference to the Syrian city where mostly Islamist rebels have been defeated this
month by Russian-backed government troops. The attacker, who was killed by
security forces, was a 22-year-old active-duty police officer. His possible
connection with organized groups is being probed, Turkey’s Interior Minister
Suleyman Soylu said.
Separately,
a man fired a gun near the entrance to the American embassy in Ankara and was
taken into custody by Turkish authorities, according to a U.S. State Department
official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Nobody was injured in the
incident, the official said.
Russia
and Turkey signaled that they don’t want the attack on the ambassador to turn
into another flashpoint between countries that are engaged on opposite sides of
the Syrian war, a recurring risk in a conflict with multiple armed parties and
outside backers. Their relations came under heavy strain after the Turkish
military shot down a Russian plane last year, and both governments have since
made an effort to repair them.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin said in televised remarks that Karlov’s killing was an
“open provocation” aimed at undermining the search for peace in Syria and the
normalization of ties with Turkey, and he said the response will be a stronger
assault on terrorism. “The bandits will feel it,” Putin said. His Turkish
counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed, saying they’ll jointly investigate the
attack and won’t allow it to disrupt a collaboration that’s crucial for the
region.
The
U.S., Iran and Saudi Arabia are among other nations that are either fighting in
Syria themselves or providing money and weapons to groups that are.
Karlov before his death.
Karlov’s death comes days
after one of Russia’s biggest victories since it joined the Syrian war last
year in support of President Bashar al-Assad. Assad’s army, with Russian air
support, has retaken almost all of Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city and for
years a rebel bastion.
Turkey, which supported the insurgents there and elsewhere in Syria, has
played a key role along with Russia in negotiating the continuing evacuation of
opposition fighters and civilians.
Turkey’s lira declined after
the attack, losing 0.8 percent against the dollar. The assassination spurred a
wider demand for haven assets, pushing the yield on U.S. Treasuries down as
much as 6 basis points earlier on Monday.
The fall of Aleppo marked a defeat for Turkey, which
supported the Sunni Muslim groups fighting against Assad. Russia says the
Syrian rebels are overwhelmingly made up of Islamic extremists, while Turkey
has argued that they’re resisting a violent dictatorship.
While that’s still the Turkish line, in practice the
country has switched its focus in Syria since the rapprochement between Erdogan
and Putin. Turkish troops have pushed deep into the neighboring country since
August, but they’re mostly targeting Kurdish groups and Islamic State fighters
and have steered clear of the battle for Aleppo.
Putin said he discussed the ambassador’s killing by phone
with Erdogan. He said Russia will send a team of investigators to join the
probe and will also expect security guarantees from Turkey for its diplomatic
offices.
Turkey paid an economic price last time its relationship
with Moscow turned sour, as Russia imposed sanctions that targeted the
country’s exports and tourism market.
‘The Victim’
Elena Suponina, an analyst at the Russian Institute of
Strategic Studies, which advises the Kremlin, said the ambassador’s shooting
probably won’t lead to another standoff. “This will only bring Russia and
Turkey closer together,” she said. “These events have showed that we have a
common enemy -- terrorism -- and only by joining forces can we deal with this
enemy.”
Still, the killing again raises security concerns for
Russian tourists in Turkey, Alexei Pushkov, a member of the defense and
security committee of the Russian parliament’s upper house, said in televised
comments. Tourism is a key source of foreign currency, and is already in
decline after a series of attacks by Islamist and Kurdish groups, as well as a
failed attempt at a military coup in July.
In
the past 10 days, more than 50 people were killed in two bomb attacks in
Istanbul and central Turkey that targeted security forces and were claimed by
Kurdish militants. Turkey reported a shrinking economy in
the third quarter for the first time in seven years, as the instability sapped
business and consumer confidence.
The Turkish and Russian foreign ministers are due to meet
in Moscow on Tuesday, along with their Iranian counterpart, to discuss the
Syrian war. Iran, the region’s leading Shiite power, is another supporter of
Assad’s government and a traditional rival of mostly Sunni Turkey.
The timing is significant because “now Russia will appear
at this summit as the victim,” said Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, and a former Turkish
opposition lawmaker. Under that pressure, “Turkey could take extra steps toward
Putin to appease him.”
The U.S., Turkey’s NATO ally, shares its allegiance to
rebel groups in Syria, even though many of them have ties to al-Qaeda and other
Islamist factions. The U.S. has repeatedly denounced Russia for killing
civilians during the campaign to recapture Aleppo, while also seeking an
understanding between the two most powerful outside actors in the Syrian war
that could help to end the conflict.
Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the killing of
the Russian envoy, and said in an e-mailed statement that America is ready to
assist the investigation. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi condemned the
“barbaric act of terrorism” and backed Russia’s efforts to clamp down on
terrorism.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said in a statement
that Karlov’s assassination by a “radical Islamic terrorist” was a “violation
of all rules of civilized order.” Later, he tweeted: “Today there were terror
attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany - and it is only getting worse. The
civilized world must change thinking!”
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