Assassination of Russian Ambassador for Turkey

[Adaryn]

Re: Assasination of Russian Ambassador for Turkey

I'm wondering about two other things: Christmas time, beyond the Season's Greetings and all the meaning in mind/heart of people in Occident, could also be an attempt against Christianity in its whole meaning. I mean, in France there is a debate for years about the right for cities to expose nativity scenes at their downtown or even villages, in the name of the "laicité" and pluralism and not to - allegedly - offense Muslims living with us. Seriously? We do not have nativity scenes in our towns anymore and Muslims here don't care about Christmas nativity scenes in the downtown or anywhere else!

That is also my impression, MK Scarlett. In France, this laicité (secularity) hysteria has become absurd to the point that in the name of "republican values", you now see news items such as this one, where a statue of the Virgin was banned/removed from a public park in France following complaints by overzealous atheists/"liberals". This is just an example among others.
And yeah, this claim that Muslims might be offended is pure BS. I think most Muslims couldn't care less about the manifestation of Christian values, like nativity scenes - they never had a problem with them before! It's just what the MSM want people to think, so as to antagonize them against Muslims.

They care about what our governments try to force us to believe, aka, Muslims are bad. And well, when seeing Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kowait for the bigger ones, in this case with their Wahhabism, Muslims are bad, aren't they?

To me all this is ALSO a real war against Christianity, as well as for the war against Russia is also a war against its Orthodox Christianity. The whole thing is multi-layered.

I agree. I would even say it's a real war against any form of spirituality, and an attempt at destroying what remains of traditional values/morality (values which are equally shared by Christianity and "normal"/non radical Islam.

There's also an attempt at sowing division among the French people - between "full blooded" French and French of Muslim origin. When you see the government's doublespeak and very ambiguous attitude, you feel like there's something fishy going on. On the one hand, they promote laicité aggressively, attacking traditional/Christian values, for ie by trying to pass laws which would ban websites counselling women who consider abortion. (These websites are often Catholic) (_http://religionnews.com/2016/12/14/france-will-soon-have-a-new-crime-online-obstruction-of-abortion/). On the Muslim side, you have the banning of burkas, the "burkinigate" and so on.
But on the other hand, you have the spreading of radical Islam in France through Qatar infiltrating poor French suburbs (which have a large population of Muslims) by pouring money into the latter, and corrupting the youth by spreading their wahhabite ideology. All with the blessing of French politicians.

Besides, political correctness has reached an absurd point in France too. The average French citizen is being more and more vilified by the MSM/elites. Put a French flag at your window, and it'll be seen as provocation and a sign that you're a right-wing extremist; express any (even moderately) patriotic feeling, or question gay marriage or gender theory, and you'll immediately be called a hateful fascist/white supremacist/Christian fundie.

This attitude of contempt manifested by the elite/media towards the "average French" (most of whom tend more towards "normal, common sense" values than leftist liberalism) gives rise to a lot of resentment among the common people, understandably. People feel despised by the elites. I think one of the aim is to direct the "average Frenchman"'s anger at the wrong people: people of Muslim background and foreigners, who they feel are being favoured by the government and all those "leftist" organizations, whereas they (the average French citizens) are getting the short end of the stick.
At the same time, a lot of youth of Muslim background living in poor neighbourhoods, who have been brought up/manipulated to hate anything French - thanks to organizations like "SOS racisme" - are being antagonized against their fellow, Frenchie-French countrymen. This is a recipe for disaster (civil war?)

Let's just hope people are clever enough to see who's the real enemy here, and that the population in general - be it Muslim, Christian, Jewish or whatever - is the real victim.

 

[angelburst29]

This headline grabbed my attention and then I wondered "what a strange reaction" when I read: "Obama has remained quiet despite being briefed on the unfolding chaos on Monday on the assassination death of a Russian Ambassador? O did contact Merkel to offer condolences for the deaths at the Berlin Market. Reminds me of the scenario, when Bush Jr. was reading a book in a classroom, when he was "briefed" on two planes hitting the Twin Towers in NY?

Obama Golfs While Global Leaders Denounce Berlin Attack, Karlov Assassination
https://sputniknews.com/world/201612211048811631-obama-golfing-leaders-denounce-attacks/

President Obama holds the executive post until Inauguration Day but chose to focus on golf while his colleagues ridiculed those responsible for the deaths of 12 people in Berlin and one in Turkey, Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov. UK Prime Minister Theresa May said the events "shocked us all" and offered condolences to the mourning families. Obama has remained quiet despite being briefed on the unfolding chaos on Monday.

Incoming President Donald Trump tweeted, "[the] civilized world must change thinking" in the face of ongoing threats posed by agents of terror. Trump did not let a relaxing trip to the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach distract him from the atrocities.

​​Trump’s transition team released a scathing statement of the horrendous attacks. Daesh "and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," the team said, adding that regional and global terror networks "must be eradicated from the face of the earth."

President Obama condemned "what appears to have been a terrorist attack" at the Christmas market in Berlin and spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to offer the America’s support. Trump has called out the Obama administration on numerous occasions for not attributing these types of incidents to radical Islamist jihadists.

 

[Keit]

This headline grabbed my attention and then I wondered "what a strange reaction" when I read: "Obama has remained quiet despite being briefed on the unfolding chaos on Monday on the assassination death of a Russian Ambassador? O did contact Merkel to offer condolences for the deaths at the Berlin Market.

Maybe he was told to do so by his handlers? After all, he is no less a puppet than Bush was. Perhaps even more so.

This is what I find so amazing when listening to Russian political shows, when they try to analyze his moves as if he is an independent entity.

 

[SeekinTruth]

I have to agree that it's just the beginning of pathological chaos unleashed. But also that it will most likely have opposite consequences of Russia and Turkey consolidating their cooperation, etc. Political Ponerology in action. The Pathocratic Empire has reached a stage of do or die, I think.

 

[angelburst29]

This is Gersh Kuntzman, reporter for the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:

Assassination of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was not terrorism, but retribution for Vladimir Putin’s war crimes (Video - photo gallery)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/don-cry-russia-slain-envoy-putin-lackey-article-1.2917281?utm_content=buffer2804b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=gkuntzman+buffer

Tuesday, December 20, 2016 -

The image of an assassin standing over the dying body of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov is a shocking one — but not a surprising one.

As Vladimir Putin’s man in Turkey, Karlov was the public face of that murderous dictator’s war crimes around the globe and of oppression at home. Andrei Karlov is the human embodiment of policies that deployed bunker busters to kill babies, sent fighter planes on scorched earth bombing runs that destroyed a whole city, aided Syrian madman Bashar al-Assad in his campaign that has killed hundreds of thousands, and even ordered attacks on UN aid workers.

So I, for one, am shedding no tears for Andrei Karlov. Frankly, I’m surprised his murder didn’t come months ago. After all, this was the lede sentences of a Washington Post story from Oct. 9: "There seems to be no way for the international community to stop the ongoing war crimes being committed by the Syrian regime and its Russian allies, especially in Aleppo," the newspaper reported. "But by brazenly flouting international law, leaders and rank-and-file officials in both countries are opening themselves up to future justice in multiple ways."

Justice has been served.

After watching the death of Karlov, I could not help but remember the case of Ernst vom Rath, the Nazi ambassador to France, who was gunned down inside his consulate by a Jewish student in 1938.

Like Karlov, Rath was the public face of atrocity — in this case, Adolf Hitler's genocide, anti-Semitism and coming global aggression.

That era’s politicians fiddled while Hitler burned down Europe, so it took a nobody named Herschel Grynszpan to stand up for freedom and make a powerful statement that evil must be fought whether in a conference room or on a battlefield.

Was Rath an innocent victim? Certainly not. He had not only defended Hitler's oppression of the Jews as "necessary" for Germany to flourish, but he stood idly by as Hitler devoured Europe and murdered its innocents. Rath could have stood up to the Nazi leadership when it would have mattered most, but he did not.

Which brings us back to Andrei Karlov.

Karlov's job in Turkey was to ease tensions over Russia's atrocities in Syria and its incursions inside Turkey itself — meaning his job was to enable and normalize Vladimir Putin. Given that role, he wasn’t a diplomat, but a soldier, and his death is the same whether it came on a battlefield outside Aleppo or in an art gallery in Ankara. His killer was also a soldier — not a terrorist, mind you, but a soldier. Terrorists kill innocent people with trucks in Christmas markets or with planes in skyscrapers. Soldiers kill their fellow soldiers.

Will history vindicate Mevlut Mert Altintas, Karlov’s assassin? That's for history to judge. But it has vindicated Grynszpan — and, indeed, vindicated others who have fought against aggression and fought for freedom.

(Note - The Daily News is owned by Mortimer Zuckerman, a Clinton supporter and Clinton Foundation donor. )

As world leaders and ordinary people expressed their horror following the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, New York Daily News (NYDN) writer Gersh Kuntzmann openly celebrated the public execution, calling it an example of 'justice [being] served.'

NY Daily News Joins Daesh in Celebrating Assassination of Andrey Karlov
https://sputniknews.com/news/201612211048812179-ny-daily-news-celebrates-assassination/

21.12.2016 - “As Vladimir Putin’s man in Turkey, Karlov was the public face of that murderous dictator’s war crimes around the globe and of oppression at home,” Kuntzmann wrote. “I, for one, am shedding no tears for Andrei Karlov.”

Kuntzmann also repeatedly compared the assassination of Karlov to the killing of Ernst vom Rath, a Nazi German embassy official shot dead in 1938 by Jewish teenager Herschel Grynszpan, while also likening Vladimir Putin, the leader of the government that Karlov served, to the infamous dictator Adolf Hitler. “Like Karlov, Rath was the public face of atrocity — in this case, Adolf Hitler's genocide, anti-Semitism and coming global aggression… [history] has vindicated Grynszpan — and, indeed, vindicated others who have fought against aggression and fought for freedom.”

While giving a welcome speech at the Ankara Center for Contemporary Art on Monday December 19, Karlov was shot nine times in the back by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, a Turkish police officer. The 62-year-old father of one was unarmed and unguarded, and died soon after. Altıntaş’s motivations are not yet clear, but after the murder he yelled “Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!"

The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which nearly every country has signed and ratified, places the safety of diplomats as sacrosanct. Even in wartime, a diplomat’s task of providing reliable means of communication between nations is thought to be apolitical and crucial.

Kuntzmann, however, disagrees. “Karlov's job in Turkey was to ease tensions over Russia's atrocities in Syria and its incursions inside Turkey itself — meaning his job was to enable and normalize Vladimir Putin. Given that role, he wasn’t a diplomat, but a soldier, and his death is the same whether it came on a battlefield outside Aleppo or in an art gallery in Ankara.”

Kuntzmann’s comments have been met primarily with outrage on NYDN’s Facebook page. “Shouldn't we be sad based on the fact he was a human being who was killed on camera? For the whole world & his family? Ridiculous headline. Learn some empathy instead of selling propaganda against Russia over this tragic death,” reads one comment.

Oh Gersh, do you just stay awake at night trying to figure out ways to be ‘controversial’ or are you really that stupid. Regardless of what he was ‘the face of’, being assassinated by an Islamic terrorist is a bad thing,” reads another.

Many readers were fast to remind the author that the US is also participating in Middle East conflicts, and American diplomats have been killed in the line of duty as well. “I'm sure there are many in the dung pile who would have said the same about Chris Stephens.. way to "go high", sickos,” Lynn Peterson reflected. Others went further. “You have got to be kidding me…the United States has committed human atrocities all over the place…seriously Kuntzman are you oblivious to The American war machine and what it has been doing to innocent lives for decades,” Gord Jacquie Clance charged.

The international response to the death of Andrey Karlov was a combination of outrage and support for Russia, as one of their public servants was horrifically gunned down. Besides Turkey, figures such as US Secretary of State John Kerry, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, French President Francois Hollande, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and countless others have offered Russia condolences.

Others celebrated Karlov’s death. Most prominent among them were Ukrainian nationalist politician Volodymyr Parasiuk, as well as Daesh. They have now been joined by NYDN.

Gersh Kuntzmann, who joined NYDN in 2012, is best known for a July 2016 article about AR-15 assault rifles in which he claimed that firing the weapon “gave me a temporary form of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.” It seems, however, that Kuntzmann may have still not recovered from his trauma, as one reader summed up after reading his article: “ Annnnnnd Kuntzman has PTSD again.”

An Al-Jazeera board member is publicly celebrating the assassination of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov, claiming that the nation “deserved it.”

Al-Jazeera Board Member: Russia ‘Deserved It’ After Assassination of Ambassador
https://sputniknews.com/russia/201612201048809874-al-jazeera-board-russia-assassination/

Dr Elham Badar, a prominent journalist in Qatar and board member of the Qatari government state news outlet, tweeted in Arabic dozens of times as the news of the terrorist attack in Ankara broke.

Included in her rant are tweets claiming that “Russia deserves the worst,” over alleged actions in Syria. Badar, with some 140,000 followers, also tweeted sympathy for the terrorist assassin, saying that the killing was a “human response to Russian barbarism in Syria.”

“This scene will be repeated with the killing of ambassadors to other countries sympathetic with Russian criminality in Aleppo,” Badar said in another, borderline threatening, tweet.


Mourning ceremony as Russian ambassador’s body taken to Moscow (Streamed live - RT video))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKSifRAnoAY

THE head of a Russian foreign ministry department has been found shot dead in a Moscow apartment.

It’s a bad day for Russian President Vladimir Putin, with an ambassador shot dead in Turkey and now the head of a foreign ministry department killed in Moscow.

Russian official found dead from gunshot wounds in Moscow
http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/russian-official-shot-dead-in-moscow/news-story/67134d8a9b464c50a303a19bfb124d78

Wed. December 21, 2016 - He has now been identified as 56-year-old Petr Polshikov, a high-ranking diplomat said to have been a senior figure in the Latin American section of the ministry.

A man’s body was found with a gunshot wound to the head, REN TV reported. Two shells were found along with a gun under the sink in the kitchen, a source told the news outlet. They claimed the wife of the man was also in the apartment.

Paramedics were filmed carrying a man wearing a white shirt into an ambulance.

The news comes on a dramatic day after nine were killed by a truck driving into a Berlin Christmas market and a Turkish off-duty police officer pulled out a gun at an art exhibition in Ankara and killed Russia’s ambassador to the country, Andrei Karlov, shouting: “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!”

Police are still examining a number of theories over Polshikov’s death.

 

[Cosmos]

Accumulating evidence as shown in various Turkish media outlets suggests that the assassin was the member of one of the sleeping cells of Gulenist circles in Turkey.

One such evidence is a document granting Altintas a 3-day leave from July 16 through 18, 2016, immediately after the Coup Attempt of July 15, although all such leaves were not allowed due to the extraordinary situation. And the superior granting the leave, Kahraman Sezer, with his name and signature on the document, was soon taken under custody in the investigation regarding the failed coup.

There are several other strong allegations and detentions in connection with the murderer's ties with the so called FETO (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization).

This is also what I believe is the case. The guy doesn't appear or sound like any familiar "jihadist". He just tried to sound like them. But one should also not doubt that Fethullah is one of the greatest backstage sponsor of all Islamic jihadist terrorist organizations around the world.

After the failed coup attempt, there were many hot interviews with former insider big guns of the Gulenist circle. Several of them made very interesting descriptions about the extreme delusions among the followers such as distribution of Gulen's used undercloths or socks to some lucky followers for keeping them as sacred objects, and also some similar rituals etc. Several eminent former members also emphasized that Gulen regularly used high amounts of diazepam for years.

It is almost certain that Fethullah can easily order his followers to do anything for him including self-destruction. The assassin of the Russian ambassador actually implied that "he is not supposed to leave the scene alive". And the very policemen who shot him can very well be other Gulenist tools, which is being investigated but then you cannot even be very sure that such investigation will be a sincere one. This is what Gulen can still do. He has almost drived Erdogan completely mad and I suspect that this is also one of the reasons Erdogan desparately seeks the help of Putin, because the US would certainly not help Erdogan in that matter.

My turkish work colleagues also told me yesterday that the assassin of the ambassador was a Gulenist and that the guy who shot the assassin was later killed himself in his apartment (or something to that extend). I haven't heard anything about that part of the story yet in the mass media.

Can anyone confirm this or find a source in english? I couldn't find a thing.

 

[bozadi]

My turkish work colleagues also told me yesterday that the assassin of the ambassador was a Gulenist and that the guy who shot the assassin was later killed himself in his apartment (or something to that extend). I haven't heard anything about that part of the story yet in the mass media.

Can anyone confirm this or find a source in english? I couldn't find a thing.

Neither have I come across such a claim in Turkish news sources. I mean, I don't think that anyone in the team that shot the assassin committed suicide subsequently.

The columnist I referenced yesterday wrote today about some details of the killing of the assassin. I don't mean to approve him in a general way. He just seems like he was a good friend of the deceased ambassador. If I come across anything significant and contradictory with his accounts, I would like to share.

The reason for killing…

Was it impossible to capture alive the police officer who killed the Russian ambassador?

Yesterday, everyone including politicians asked this question.

I asked the same question to the security units that had come to the Center Of Modern Arts and taken part in the operation immediately after the shooting of Ambassador Karlov.

Narrations of almost each one of them were similar but the below statement made by one of them summarized it all:

"Not just us but any other country would behave the same way with such an attacker. In fact, we spent much more time."

As I requested him to elaborate on that, he told about the developments during the conflict.

According to him, as the assassin continued firing his arm after shooting the ambassador, the first measure in the vicinity was taken by some traffic policemen in a close distance.

Simultaneously, policemen protecting nearby embassies and a public order police team also arrived.

When the assassin Altintas was instructed to lay down his arm, he not only kept resisting by shouting "I came here to die" but he also kept firing his arm.

When a special team that soon arrived repeated the "lay down your arm" instruction, the response did not change.

WHY WAS HE SHOT?

Upon this, allegedly, the assassin was firstly shot in his calf and ankle.

When he fell down, he did not stop and maneuvered to extend his hand to his pocket, and then policemen got worried that he might be a suicide bomber.

They say, at that stage, they aimed to kill him by free shooting, and one of them summarized the reason:

"We didn't know that he was a policeman until we killed him and reached his identity. As he took his hand to his pocket, we suspected that he would set off a bomb that he might have placed inside the building. There were many civilians inside the building and the ambassador might have been alive…"

This is what the security units told regarding the time period that lasted 15 minutes in total…

Reportedly, a service pistol and three clips were found on the assassin.

After the event, all his contacts were investigated.

His lawyer friend with whom he stayed together in Ankara was taken under custody in Istanbul.

It was found that he stocked many bullets into his room in the adjacent hotel.

A WOLF OR AN INDIVIDUAL CASE?

All these do not suffice to say if this was a "lone wolf" assassination or a personal attack.

However, the schools and the private education institution he attended as well as his familial data indicate his connection with the FETO.

The fact that he shouted an al-Nusra slogan in the attack is being investigated regarding a possible connection with "one of the mosaic organizations inside."

But the fact that the he pronounced Arabic words awkwardly brings a different connection into question.

It is being examined if he committed the attack upon an order.

In this scope, his circle of friends and the phone calls he recently made are being analyzed one by one.

However, it is not yet possible to give an answer to the question "Who has sent a message to whom through whom by this attack?"

 

[bozadi]

It is not clear to me what is meant by "mosaic organizations inside" and the original Turkish statement sounded slightly incoherent to me but I take it to mean various jihadist organizations' extensions in Turkey.

 

[loreta]

I have a question: how come the Russian Secret Service was not aware of this guy? I don't understand.

 

[angelburst29]

The UK Daily Mail has several articles, joined - one after the other.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4049400/The-undercover-cop-assassin-special-forces-officer-22-gunned-Russian-ambassador-meant-protect.html

According to reports, Karlov's wife/widow Marina was at the art exhibition. As the shooting began she fell to the floor like others in the audience and had a 'nervous breakdown' in the moments after he was killed. She was rushed to hospital and is being accompanied by the embassy doctor and psychologists when she flies with her husband's remains back to Moscow.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday blamed the group of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen for the assassination.

In an interview with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Cavusoglu said 'Turkey and Russia know that behind the attack... there is FETO,' it said, referring to Turkey's acronym for Gulen's organization.

Turkey's authoritarian government has imposed a temporary blackout on media coverage of the Russian ambassador's shooting.

An online listing remains showing him as a serving policeman on an official database, yet pro-government media have claimed Altintas was reportedly one of some 8,000 fired from the police as a result of an investigation into the July 'coup' against President Erdogan.

The newspapers claim the killer was sacked from the riot police on a posting to Diyarbakir after his commander Kahraman Sezer fell under suspicion.

They also claimed that Altintas took two days' holiday immediately after the coup.

Six suspects including his father İsrafil Altıntaş, mother Hamidiye, sister Seher Altıntaş, uncle and flatmate were today in custody undergoing questioning about his motives, and whether he was linked to an extremist group.

Police detained Altıntas's uncle, who had been working at a closed school allegedly linked to the Gülen movement in the Kuşadası district, on Tuesday. He was reportedly previously detained as part of the investigation into the failed July 15 coup attempt.

Gunman Altintas moved to Ankara one and a half months ago and was allegedly living with a supporter of the the Gülen movement, an Islamic transnational religious and social movement led by controversial Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, based in the US.

One theory is that the killer stayed at a hotel in recent days to plan the attack.

Altintas set off the metal detector security check when he entered the exhibition in central Ankara as he was carrying a gun, said pro-government Sabah daily. But after showing his police ID, he was waved through and allowed to proceed.

An unnamed witness added to news website Diken: 'There was a single attacker. He was wearing a suit. He said to the Russian ambassador: 'I'm not going to get out of here alive. And neither are you.' 'Then he took aim straight at him. We all ran out. The ambassador was motionless on the ground.'

Photographer Burhan Ozbilici, who was covering the exhibition, said: 'The Russian ambassador was sprawled on the floor and the attacker was waving his gun at the rest of us, shouting slogans. 'He shot the ambassador at least once more at close range and smashed some of the framed photos … In all there were at least eight shots. Guests ran for cover, hiding behind columns and under tables.'

(Note - from this article, the former head of Turkish military intelligence is basically saying, Erdogan needs to change his "Syrian Policy" to reflect common ground with Russia and kick out the U.S., U.K. and France from it's territory? In my opinion, Erdogan might be at a higher risk of assassination, now that they were brazing enough to take out a Russian Ambassador? )

Speaking to Sputnik, Ismail Hakki Pekin, former head of Turkish military intelligence, stressed that Ankara must immediately change its Syria policy, adding that the present policy effectively set the stage for the envoy's murder.

Ex-Intel Head to Sputnik: Turkey's Syria Policy Set the Stage for Envoy's Murder
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201612211048828692-turkish-intelligence-officer-interview/

Speaking to Sputnik Turkey, Ismail Hakki Pekin, a career veteran of the Turkish army who served as the head of the Intelligence Department of the Armed Forces' General Staff from 2007-2012, explained that unfortunately, Ankara's Syria policy may have paved the way to the provocation of the ambassador's killing. At the same time, the brazen murder is also a clear sign that Turkey's intelligence and security services aren't operating efficiently, the officer said.

According to Pekin, Ankara's efforts against the Assad government have resulted in jihadists from Daesh (ISIL/ISIS), the Nusra Front and other terrorist groups using Turkey as a transit route to Syria, but also allowed them to prepare acts of terror inside Turkey itself.

"The first reason that Turkey has become a platform for such loud provocations by radicals is linked to the foreign policy miscalculations made in Ankara. In particular, Turkey's Syrian policy has turned out to be completely mistaken," the intelligence expert explained. "Secondly," he added, "against the backdrop of growing tensions in relations with the West, Turkey began moving away from Western countries and closer to Russia. Realizing this, the West and the US, which have traditionally considered Turkey to be within its sphere of influence, felt the need to provide Turkey with a 'warning'." Not saying so directly, the officer therefore hinted that foreign intelligence services may have been somehow connected to the Russian official's death.

At the same time, Pekin said, the high-ranking official's death demonstrated that "Turkish intelligence and security systems have collapsed," and have ceased to function effectively.

Ultimately, Pekin warned that Turkey itself "has become a springboard for uncontrolled activity of radical organizations and foreign terrorist groups. As a result, Turkey became the place where jihadists have been able to organize various provocations in the country's territories. Terrorist groups have been established – numerous radical structures, religious movements, which are used to plot terrorist acts."

In this situation, the officer stressed that Ankara urgently needs to change its Syria policy, and to kick out any foreign operatives working in Turkey. "Turkey's territory is being used by the US, the UK, and France for their own purposes," he said. "The interests of those powers are so intertwined that it becomes very difficult to fully understand all the geopolitical intricacies. Turkey must change this state of affairs, and has already taken steps in this direction."

In the wake of the Russian Ambassador's murder, Turkey will most likely cut its support for the armed opposition in Syria and seek to arrive at a compromise with Russia regarding the crisis, Kerim Has, a Turkish expert on Russian politics, told Sputnik.

Ankara 'Will Cut Support for Syrian Opposition, Seek Compromise With Russia'
https://sputniknews.com/world/201612211048835815-russia-turkey-diplomat-murder-opposition/

In an interview with Sputnik, Kerim Has, a Turkish expert on Russian politics, did not rule out that the Russian Ambassador's assassination will be followed by Turkey scrapping its support for Syrian armed opposition and focusing instead on reaching a political accommodation with Russia.

The interview came after Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia, Iran and Turkey will continue their cooperation on the Syrian crisis.

 

[Keit]

I have a question: how come the Russian Secret Service was not aware of this guy? I don't understand.

It could be due to several reasons. First, because it happened on the Turkish soil. And despite US claims that Kremlin's hand reached anywhere in the world, the reality is probably much less fantastic. There is also the fact that Karlov chose not to walk around with bodyguards. And another thing to consider, that Altintas could have been "activated" only recently, and therefore wasn't on the radar of any agency. Well, except on the radar of those who gave him orders.

 

[loreta]

I have a question: how come the Russian Secret Service was not aware of this guy? I don't understand.

It could be due to several reasons. First, because it happened on the Turkish soil. And despite US claims that Kremlin's hand reached anywhere in the world, the reality is probably much less fantastic. There is also the fact that Karlov chose not to walk around with bodyguards. And another thing to consider, that Altintas could have been "activated" only recently, and therefore wasn't on the radar of any agency. Well, except on the radar of those who gave him orders.

Ok. Thanks for you answer Keit.

 

[RedFox]

Assassination of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was not terrorism, but retribution for Vladimir Putin’s war crimes

I'm half expecting Kirby/Powers/Obama to come out with something similar.
It seems likely this was one of the main aims - to attempt to cement the idea of 'Russian war crimes'. As well as cut of/tar all the stories coming out of Aleppo from civilians.
I don't see many people buying it - but then maybe it's the libtards who are being targeted for the wind up/blood lust?
I did see one comment on Twitter today calling for Putin to be shot (because Germany was the next target for being overthrown by him personally ).
The whole thing stinks to high heaven.

 

[angelburst29]

Putin vows to avenge Ambassador Karlov's murder [Video]
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/12/putin-vows-to-avenge-ambassador-karlovs.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR-rlF5LfIg (2:28 min.)

The likes of the New York Times are celebrating the murder of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, under the pretext of "revenge for Aleppo" - the very account of "genocide" they themselves fabricated.

The reality is, that the gunman was a jihadist hitman, both raised and hired by the CIA, on this occasion to stifle the Syrian peace process, and frame Turkey against Russia. Yawn, they're going to have to think of a new idea at some point - but those who ordered this can rest assured that the FSB has a long arm.

PS - It would be rather classless of Russia's papers to celebrate the murder in Benghazi, albeit a very real justification for such a crime existed. Evidently, there is no low that's too low for the NYT.

It is simultaneously exciting, worrisome, and strange to witness the collapse of a once global empire like the US, in real time, mostly as a result of its own actions, hypocrisy, and greed.

The better question to ask is, “does it even matter?” Well, yes, in the sense that what matters is who’s leveling these accusations and why, not necessarily how provable they may or may not ultimately be. As of now, two of the most high-profile individuals in the Turkish state are suggesting that the American-based coup suspect and alleged terrorist backer Fethullah Gulen had something to do with the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey.

Did Gulen Order The Hit On The Russian Ambassador?
http://katehon.com/article/did-gulen-order-hit-russian-ambassador

President Erdogan claimed the following:

“This man (Mevlut Mert Altintas) was a member of FETO and there’s no need to cover up this fact. The place where he grew up and his latest status are all but indicative of this. It should be said openly that members of that filthy organization can still be found in the ranks of our police and in the Armed Forces.”

His statements were backed up by Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, who purportedly told his American counterpart that Ankara and Moscow “were aware that the FETO (Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization) had been behind this attack.”

What’s important to pay attention to isn’t necessarily the veracity of these allegations, but the fact that they’re being voiced by the country’s most important politician and its top diplomat. This is the closest that a world leader can get to blaming the US for this terrorist attack without directly saying as much, which in a sense channels what the Russian suspicions have been all along.

One should remember that President Putin publicly voiced his belief that the Ambassador’s assassination was intended to derail the Tripartite talks that were to be held the next day in Moscow between Russia, Iran, and Turkey, strongly inferring that they were connected to whatever actor or set thereof which wanted to see this historic game-changing framework fail.

It’s not expected that any conclusive evidence one way or another will ever be publicly revealed which undoubtedly proves the assassin’s connections, if there even were any and he wasn’t a “lone wolf”, that is. Nevertheless, the fact that Erdogan and Cavusoglu are insisting that Gulen had something to do with this terrorist attack shouldn’t be dismissed as a self-interested domestic ploy to conveniently blame everything which goes wrong in the country on this shadowy figure.

Instead of being the predictable knee-jerk reaction which Turkey’s critics truly believe that it is, it’s much more important to pay attention to how this dramatically and unprecedentedly represents a nominal NATO “ally” openly accusing the US of sheltering an international terrorist who’s officially being blamed for complicity in the assassination of a Russian Ambassador in its capital city. Moreover, the Turkish government has shared these concerns with its Russian counterpart, which has ambiguously chosen not to comment on them yet in order to preserve an aura of diplomatic uncertainty which can keep the US on edge and guessing about what Moscow really thinks.

Coupled with the coordination between Russia and Turkey through the Tripartite format, Washington thus has reason to believe that Moscow and Ankara are closer than ever before in their history because of how their two Presidents are now working together to figure out who ordered the hit on the Ambassador, with Erdogan saying that it’s US-based Gulen and Putin cleverly choosing to entertain this theory by declining to deny it.

Analyzing this event from a larger angle, it’s vividly clear that Turkey is signaling that it’s completely fed up with the US and is decisively pivoting towards Eurasia, as was predicted by the author in the immediate aftermath of the failed pro-American coup attempt this summer.

Consequently, although the argument might appear to be a factually flimsy one so far, Turkey’s assertion that Gulen ordered the hit on the Russian Ambassador shouldn’t be met with mockery but with merriment by multipolar supporters because of how it powerfully represents Ankara’s rejection of Washington and its embrace of the emerging Multipolar World Order.

The murder of the Russian ambassador, Andrey Karlov, is a true tragedy. But this time it will not spoil Russian-Turkish cooperation. This situation is not the same as last year's killing of our pilots, organized by the Gulenist network. The Turkish side, in that case, didn't recognize their fault and didn't apologize from the very beginning. That situation almost destroyed relations between Russia and Turkey.

The murder of the Russian ambassador was nothing but a cry of Globalist agony
http://katehon.com/article/murder-russian-ambassador-was-nothing-cry-globalist-agony

After the vile murder of our ambassador, the Turkish side sent its apologies to the Russian people and government immediately, within minutes. I personally have received condolences from some very influential politicians from Ankara. Both Turkish and Russian sides showed an intention to continue with our rapprochement.

The perpetrator of this bloody murder has already been identified as a member of the Gulenist network. On the same day, there was a terrorist attack in Germany organized by ISIS, so I think we are witnessing the agony of the Globalist administration, forced to leave the White house. They tried to destroy Russian-Turkish relations on the day of the Electoral College voting. It was their last attack on our strategic partnership.

The reaction of our president, Vladimir Putin, was quite different from the reaction after the downing of our plane as well, because Putin directly blamed the network of Islamic fundamentalists that were behind this murder, and he has shown an understanding of the difficult situation of President Erdogan.

Therefore, I am absolutely sure that this time the incident will not hurt Russian-Turkish relations. We will continue to elaborate our common strategy over Syria and we will work together in order to organize a stable and peaceful situation in the Middle East. Our cooperation will get stronger and deeper out of such a painful moment.

We have lost one of the best men in diplomacy. Our hero, the ambassador Andrey Karlov, who contributed so much to save the relations of our countries, was killed by a coward in a very unmanly way - shot in the back. This is not only a terrorist act, but also a dishonorable one.

The organizer will pay a huge price for this assassination. Our strongest and loudest response to this crime will be the continuation of the Russian-Turkish strategic alliance, and the acceleration of the Turkish withdrawal from NATO, and creating a new Eurasian alliance. That is the only reasonable and symmetric answer, because our enemies - the globalists - fear this moment more then anything else. Nothing will stop our progress in the creation of a multipolar and democratic world order.

 

[angelburst29]

The photographer who took the haunting picture of the Turkish assassin standing next to the sprawled out body of a Russian ambassador recalled the chaotic shooting and how he was not even assigned to attend the gallery opening in Turkey’s capital.

AP photographer who captured moment assassin killed ambassador was not assigned event
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/12/20/ap-photographer-who-captured-moment-assassin-killed-ambassador-was-not-assigned-event.html?refresh=true

Tues. December 20, 2016 - “I decided to attend simply because it was on my way home from the Ankara office,” Burhan Ozbilici, the photographer for The Associated Press, wrote in a first-person essay Tuesday.

the photograph Ozbilici took Monday of Mevlut Mert Altintas and the dead ambassador landed on the front pages of major newspapers across the world, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and New York Post.

The picture was as brutal as it was simple: Altintas, 22, a Turkish policeman, is seen in a dark suit holding a gun and yelling. The body of Andrei Karlov, his target and the Russian ambassador to Turkey, is seen on the floor. Everything is white and sterile: the walls, the floor. There is no trace of blood.

“Don’t forget Aleppo, Don’t forget Aleppo. Those who have a part in this atrocity will all pay for it, one by one,” he yelled, it was later reported.

Video from before the shooting shows Altintas lurking behind Karlov in front of the new exhibit called “From Kainingrad to Kamchatka, from the eyes of travelers." Altintas appeared calm and -- while Karlov spoke -- stepped off to the right. Altintas was still in the frame when he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a small gun.

He opened fire. Karlov was hit several times and fell. The horrified audience ran for their lives; some found refuge behind nearby columns and others lunged behind tables. Ozbilici, however, managed to take pictures of the killer and disregarded the old adage: If you can shoot him, he can shoot you.

“This is what I was thinking: “I’m here. Even if I get hit and injured, or killed, I’m a journalist. I have to do my work. I could run away without making any photos … But I wouldn’t have a proper answer if people later ask me: “Why didn’t you take pictures?”

While newsrooms across the country have cut back budgets on photo desks, photojournalists have played pivotal roles in conflicts ranging from Iraq to Syria.

Matthew McDermott, a photojournalist for more than 20 years who covered the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2005 earthquake in Haiti, said photojournalists often have one thing in common: they are adrenaline junkies.

“You’re in this moment,” McDermott said, “and you know there’s a chance for bodily harm, but that’s all secondary. You’re there to take the shot.”

McDermott said photojournalists are also often pressured by their editors to come up with the picture.

“If you’re bosses know you were there, you better not let someone beat you,” he said.

Rick Shaw, the director of Picture of the Year International, told FoxNews.com that Ozbilici's photograph was outstanding.

“Photojournalism is a balance between photography as an art form and journalism, which is content-related,” he said. “Any photograph that reaches the highest level for both is an exceptional picture.”

Shaw went on to say that individual news organizations often will identify at what point a photographer stops covering an event, but said during breaking news, the decision is ultimately up to the photographer.

“Conflict photojournalists are in this situation two to three times a day,” he said. “But it’s not until something like this happens that we are awakened to these photographers’ responsibility and danger.”