CCTV News:On the night of 19th local time, a news that shocked the world happened — — Karlov, Russian ambassador to Turkey, was shot and killed while attending a photo exhibition with the theme of "Russia in the eyes of Turks" in Ankara, Turkey.
△ Before the attack, the gunman stood behind the ambassador.
The attacker was an Ankara riot policeman with two and a half years’ police experience. After shooting, the attackers kept shouting "Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria". The attacker was killed by the police and six people involved in the assassination of the Russian ambassador were arrested.
△ On the evening of December 19th, 2016, local time, people laid flowers outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to mourn the death of Ambassador Karlov.
Putin: There is no doubt that it is a provocation!
The Russian Foreign Ministry regarded it as a terrorist attack and said that the issue of Karlov’s murder would be submitted to the UN Security Council for consideration. Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the "despicable acts" of terrorists.
Turkish-Russian president calls to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation.
After the ambassador was shot and killed, Turkish President Erdogan telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin said that the plot of terrorist planners to undermine Russia-Turkey relations will not succeed.
Turkish President Erdogan also said that this incident is a "provocative act" against Turkish-Russian relations, in an attempt to undermine the normalization of Turkish-Russian relations. "Turkey and Russia do not want to be deceived by this provocative act." He also said that Turkey and Russia will form a joint investigation committee to jointly investigate this terrorist attack. Erdogan said, "After this tragedy, we should be more United in the fight against terrorism and strengthen security measures."
△ On December 19th, 2016, local time, Turkish President Erdogan was interviewed by the media.
Russian and Turkish foreign ministers meet separately
Despite the shooting incident, Iran, Turkey and Russia held a meeting on Syria as scheduled in Moscow on December 20th. Today, the Turkish Foreign Minister has arrived in Moscow. Before the tripartite talks, the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers held a separate meeting to further exchange views on the incident.
After the shooting incident, the international community condemned it in succession. How serious is this incident? How do we view the cause and background of this shooting incident?
Last year, because Russian warplanes were shot down by Turkey, the relationship between Russia and Turkey fell to freezing point, and it was not until this year that the relationship between the two countries melted. Then, will the relationship between Russia and Turkey, which is in the process of warming up, be frustrated by the attack on the ambassador?
Not long ago, the Syrian government forces announced that Aleppo was completely liberated. How will the shooting incident affect the situation in Syria? What will happen to the situation in the Middle East and the global situation?
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The assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey is a rare event in the diplomatic history in which the diplomatic envoys of big countries were killed, which further reflects the complicated situation in Turkey and the Middle East.
The spread of extreme ideas in Turkey and powerful sectors are affected.
Judging from the extreme remarks made by the gunman after the murder, it seems that he was bewitched by extreme thoughts and planned and implemented the operation alone. However, because the gunman was subsequently killed, the exact background of this incident — — Such as whether there are accomplices, whether there is support from terrorist organizations, etc. — — It may be difficult to be officially confirmed. After the incident, the Turkish government immediately identified the murderer as a Gulen, but at present, it has not given enough evidence to support it. At present, Russia and Turkey have indicated that they will organize a joint investigation, but this investigation may take a long time.
△ Fethula Gulen, the leader of the "Gulen Movement" who now lives in the United States
Gulen is the leader of some religious forces in Turkey. He lives in the United States and has many supporters in Turkey. For a long time, the Erdogan government of Turkey has been fiercely opposed to the Gulen forces, and the Turkish side has repeatedly asked the United States to hand over Gulen to Turkey. No matter whether the murderer is a Gulen believer or not, he will undoubtedly take this action after being brainwashed by extreme thoughts. This incident further proves that even in the most reliable security police force, extreme forces and thoughts have penetrated deeply in the general environment of the spread of extreme thoughts in Turkey.
In recent years, there has been an obvious trend of religious extremism in Turkey, which has had many influences on the social level. Against the background that the war in Syria has been going on for years, and extremist organizations such as ISIS once sat on the ground, Turkey has even become an important rear for some extremist forces to recruit and raise funds. Under this general wave of social turn, it is inevitable and inevitable that powerful departments will be affected sooner or later.
Russian-Turkish relations are warming up, and geopolitical partners will continue.
After the murder, the Turkish government reacted very quickly. Turkish President Erdogan first delivered a televised speech, positioning the incident as "an attack on the Turkish state and people" and a "provocative act" against Turkey-Russia relations. The Turkish Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued strongly worded statements. Erdogan also telephoned Putin, stressing that Turkey will continue to fight terrorism "together with Russia". These actions show that the Turkish government is very worried about the impact of this incident on Turkish-Russian relations, and hopes to avoid a greater impact with the subsequent rapid response.
Russia has given a more positive response to Turkey’s position. On the phone with Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not link this matter with the responsibility of the Turkish government, but characterized it as "attempting to undermine the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations" and "disrupting the efforts made by the two countries to solve the Syrian issue". This fully shows that the recent warming of relations between Russia and Turkey has become a fairly stable policy direction of the two countries. The geopolitical partnership between the two countries will continue until the Syrian issue and the situation in the Middle East fail to meet the expectations of both sides.
△ Data Map Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Erdogan
Turkey’s road choice is the issue that people should be most concerned about.
Outside of Turkey and Russia, members of the international community have generally strongly condemned this incident, whether it is the United Nations or the United States and other western countries. Judging from the reaction of relevant countries, unlike Turkey’s shooting down of the Russian Su -24 fighter, Russia and Turkey are likely to "isolate" the murder case to avoid its impact on the regional situation and Russian-Turkish cooperation. Therefore, this matter will not have significant consequences in international relations for the time being.
However, what needs to be vigilant is that, as this incident shows, extreme thoughts in Turkey have spread and expanded. If the Turkish government can’t effectively curb this situation and firmly maintain the national secular system, it may lead to a great step backwards in Turkey’s political and social construction since the Kemal Revolution in the early 20th century. As a member of NATO and the closest country in the Middle East to Europe (both geographically and politically), Turkey’s road choice between religion and secularism, extremes and rationality is what people should be most concerned about.
Wen Yi CCTV Review Special Contributor Liu Hua