(VOVworld) – Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated at the opening of an art exhibition on Monday evening in Ankara. Karlov was several minutes into a speech when he was shot. The perpetrator, an off-duty officer in Ankara’s riot police squad, was shot by Turkish police.

The perpetrator shot Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov at an art exhibition in Turkey (Photo: Reuters)

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova immediately confirmed that this was an act of terrorism, and said Russia will report the incident to the UN Security Council. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Russian ambassador was killed in an attempt to harm Russian-Turkish relations and the Syrian peace process. He called for strengthening security at Russian diplomatic facilities abroad. The European Union, the US, France and others condemned the attack and sent condolences to Russia.