​Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, has died of his wounds after being shot in Ankara, the Turkish capital

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Monday that the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, had died after being shot by a gunman.

"Today in Ankara as a result of an attack, the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkey, Andrey Gennadyevich Karlov, received a wound from which he died," Zakharova said.

Ambassador Karlov, 62, was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition in Ankara when a man fired at least eight shots. Three more people also sustained gun wounds during the attack.

A 22 YEAR OLD, RIOT POLICE

The assassin M. M. A., 22, had entered the gallery with a police ID and had opened fire on the ambassador. Turkey's Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu confirmed the assassin worked at Ankara riot police. Soylu said that he was working for the riot police squad in Ankara for the past 2 1/2 years. He identified the assailant as M. M. A., born in 1994.

Pro-AKP columnist Abdulkadir Selvi said that the assassin had connections with terrorist organisation al-Nusra Front.

The assassin in a black suit was standing behind the ambassador

SHOUTED "ALLAHU AKBAR" and "DON'T FORGET ALEPPO"

The ambassador was delivering a speech and suddenly a man showed up with a gun. "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" the gunman shouted in Turkish, referring to the Syrian city. He also shouted "Allahu akbar," the Arabic phrase for "God is great" and continued in Arabic: "We are the descendants of those who supported the Prophet Muhammad, for jihad."

"It is likely that the attack was aimed at the Ambassador because after the shots were made the assailant let those present escape the room," an eyewitness told RIA Novosti.

Local news outlets reported that the assassin was killed by law enforcers.

Karlov joined the diplomatic service in 1976. He served as Russia's ambassador to Pyongyang in 2001-2006, and later worked as the chief of the Foreign Ministry's consular department. He had served as the ambassador to Turkey since 2013.

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