The Russian ambassador to Turkey has been seriously wounded in a shooting at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey. The gunman reportedly announced “we will make you pay for Aleppo” before attacking the ambassador. CNN Turkey is reporting that the ambassador, Andrey Karlov, is in critical condition and that two others were wounded.
Relationships between the government of Turkey’s autocratic leader, Recep Erdoğan, and that of Russia’s autocratic leader, Vladmir Putin, were already tense. Turkey has provided support to rebels against the autocratic leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, while Russia has been Assad’s strongest supporter. With the direct help of Russian air and ground forces, Assad’s government has been able to push back rebels that had captured significant portions of the country and seemed poised to topple the Assad government.
Rebel groups supported by Turkey captured the town of Dabiq from ISIS in October. Members of some of the same groups were among those shelled and bombed by Syrian forces in eastern Aleppo. Turkey’s support of rebel forces while Russia has been actively working with Assad has brought their militaries into near conflict several times.
In November 2015, Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian SU-24 jet that strayed into Turkish airspace, and in January 2016 Turkey warned that a Russian SU-34 jet had again crossed the border. Russia denied any incursion in both incidents.
Russia is expected to make a comment on the shooting shortly.
Turkey is a NATO member, and any conflict involving the nation could escalate to involve the NATO alliance.
Monday, Dec 19, 2016 · 6:49:56 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
The shooter has been identified as Mert Altintas, a former policeman.
While Altintas claimed he was doing the shooting in support of Syrians shelled in the devastated city of Aleppo, some Ankara officials are already calling the shooter a follower of cleric Muhammet Fethullah Gulen. This may be an early indication of how the Turkish government intends to deal with the situation.
Erdoğan has already been seeking extradition of Gulen from the United States — a call that Trump’s National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, has supported.