Ambassador Karlov’s killing leaves Turkey’s relations with Russia hanging in the balance once again

They say a picture is worth a thousands words. The one of an off-duty police officer standing triumphantly over the body of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in Ankara, says so much more. On what was due to be an ordinary evening in the Turkish capital, Andrei Karlov attended a photo exhibition to make a few remarks at the opening of a collection entitled ‘Russia as seen by Turks’. They turned out to be his last. As he addressed the small crowd, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The 62 year-old was, as you’d expect of a man of his status, flanked by men in suits. Little did anyone expect that one of the suits would open fire and kill him.

Captured on camera, the gun fire can be heard before ambassador Karlov falls to the ground. As the lenses pull out, his assassin, named as Mevlut Mert Aydintas, aged 22 and a member of the Ankara riot police, is seen shouting.