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The world is still reeling from the tragic and shocking assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey — and now we know the late gunman has been identified as Mevlut Mert Atlintas.
CNN reported that Altintas, 22, was a police officer from the Soke district of the western province of Aydin. According to Turkish news outlet the Hurriyet Daily News, Altintas graduated from a police vocational school in Izmir and later served as a member of the riot police squad in the Turkish capital. Other sources indicate Turkish police raided Altintas’ homes in the Aydin and Soke neighborhoods, while his mother and sister were taken into custody.
Altintas was in plain clothes when he shot Karlov point blank during a photo exhibition, shouted in Turkish “Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria!” He then yelled, “Stand back! Stand back! Only death will take me out of here. Anyone who has a role in this oppression will die one by one,” the AP reported.
As the name of the shooter surfaced, Turkish media began circulating pictures of Altintas, also identified as a member of the special ops unit:
BREAKING: Turkish media IDs shooter as a serving police officer named Mert Altintas. Member of special ops unit in #Ankara – @Charles_Lister pic.twitter.com/qby3eHMbDA
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) December 19, 2016
Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates tweeted a picture of Karlov with a black ribbon imprinted on it, and issued a condemnation of the killing. “Moscow will make sure those behind the murder will be punished,” they wrote.
Agencies/Canadajournal
