The assassination of a Russian diplomat Monday in Ankara was chillingly captured on camera, but Turkish officials say the real motive of the killer, who shouted “Allahu Akbar” and claimed to be avenging attacks on Aleppo, remains unclear. All observers unanimously stated that the main purpose of the killing of the Russian diplomat was an attempt to strike an extremely painful and heavy blow to the recovery of the Russian-Turkish relations. Of course, the goal has been achieved, and much will now depend on Erdogan. In the first seconds after the fatal shots, the killer clearly shouted that he came to take revenge for Russian actions in Syria.
Tony Cartalucci –
Just days after the liberation of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was gunned down while giving a talk at an art gallery in Turkey’s capital of Ankara.
The gunman, identified as a former Turkish police officer, flashed the familiar one finger gesture used by terrorist organizations operating in neighboring Syria including by Jabhat Al Nusra and the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” – while shouting, according to the Guardian:
Don’t forget Aleppo. Don’t forget Syria. Unless our towns are secure, you won’t enjoy security. Only death can take me from here. Everyone who is involved in this suffering will pay a price.
Assassination Takes Place Days After US Vowed “Retaliation” Against Russia
US President Barack Obama, US policymakers and pundits, as well as US Senators for the past week have vowed “retaliation” against Russia for alleged “hacking” during the 2016 US presidential election. These threats take place against a wider backdrop of increasingly unhinged outbursts made by Western politicians, pundits, and policymakers amid frustration in advancing their global agenda versus a reemerging Russia and a rising China.
The Guardian in an article published just this week titled, “Barack Obama promises retaliation against Russia over hacking during US election,” would state:
Barack Obama has warned that the US will retaliate for Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election.
In an interview on National Public Radio on Friday morning, the US president said he is waiting for a final report he has ordered into a range of Russian hacking attacks, but promised there would be a response.“I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections … we need to take action,” Obama said. “And we will – at a time and place of our own choosing.
“Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be.”
Cui Bono?
The cold-blooded assassination of a Russian ambassador in the heart of Turkey, however, is a very effective “retaliation,” not only for Russia’s role in balancing against the Western media’s influence, effectively undermining the West’s monopoly over global public perception, but also for confounding US geopolitical objectives across the Middle East – particularly in Syria, and particularly in the aftermath of Aleppo’s liberation.
The assassination – a crime and even an act of war by any account – was apparently carried out by a militant drawn from the ranks of terrorist organizations armed, trained, and funded by the United States and its regional allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and even Turkey. And despite this fact, should the US be involved in the assassination, it would be difficult to prove.
Beyond simply “sending a message” as US policymakers sought to do – it also undermines alleged progress made between Ankara and Moscow regarding the former’s role in the ongoing proxy war with Syria. The assassination strains any such progress, even threatening to rollback gains painfully made since Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane over Syria in November of 2015.
While evidence is still forthcoming regarding the assassination, the US – through its own insistence on publicly and repeatedly threatening Moscow with retaliation – has made itself one of the primary suspects behind the brutal killing. Considering the US’ role in creating, arming, funding, and directing terrorists across the region for years – the US is responsible indirectly at the very least.
_____________________________________________________