# Russian ambassador killed in Turkey



## Devildoc (Dec 19, 2016)

Turkey is often the anchor point in some, ah, _unique _positions in world history.

Russian ambassador to Turkey shot in Ankara

Relations between Turkey and Russia had been going pretty well lately.  We'll see if this puts a damper on things.


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## Queeg (Dec 19, 2016)

If the shooter is tied to anti-Assad entities, I'd expect Russia to start _owning _Syria, all of it.  A political solution is reestablishment of the Assad regime, full stop.  Thoughts?


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## Diamondback 2/2 (Dec 19, 2016)

Depending on who owns the attack, it could get interesting.  Their plane being shot down may be old news, but I'm sure not forgotten. Russia is a wild card right now, with hacking stuff here, but then Trump wanting to work with Putin, and the willingness of Putin to go full retard at the end of our Presidency cycle.  About like he did with Georgia when Bush was leaving office.

Anything is possible.


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## Viper1 (Dec 19, 2016)

Gunman kills Russian ambassador to Turkey at photo exhibit 
Reports say the assasin was an Ankara police officer. Killed the Ambassador just a day before a high level tri-country meeting between Iran, Russia, and Turkey about Syria.


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## Totentanz (Dec 19, 2016)




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## Queeg (Dec 19, 2016)

Dank memes travel fast!


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## AWP (Dec 19, 2016)

I picked a good week to be on vacation.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 19, 2016)

Yelling "Allah Akbar," shouting "remember Aleppo," blasting the Russian ambassador... yeah... someone's probably going to pay for this one.


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## The Hate Ape (Dec 22, 2016)

Viper1 said:


> Gunman kills Russian ambassador to Turkey at photo exhibit
> Reports say the assasin was an Ankara police officer. Killed the Ambassador just a day before a high level tri-country meeting between Iran, Russia, and Turkey about Syria.



Having no official knowledge whatsoever, I read this and suspected Iranian involvement immediately. Smart guy economics of terrorism and UW would play the rift between Turkey and Russia through a proxy attack. Tehran may not be in favor of the move but there are factions within Iran that strongly oppose anyone in favor of the anti-Assad movement - which by the way - is Turkey's position. (GOOGLE: Iran & Turkey relations // Iran & Syria relations)

Let us note however, that the attack was extremely cliché.

I doubt Russia is totally oblivious to this either and it will be interesting to see if the discussion between the three countries takes place. My suspicion is that this attack was aimed at disrupting the dialogue. Iran and Russia may be spades partners, but the end result if the above statements are true will be that Iran is going to have to demonstrate more accountability for their involvement in the international arena.

A second possibility would be that Turkey could have been part of the assassination instead, there is of course, a lot to risk with that maneuver so they'd have to cover their tracks. They, logically, would be able to point the finger at Iran with the same goal in mind: disrupt the scheduled dialogue that may have spawned decisions or ultimatums.

Both Iran and Turkey have perceived motivations to sponsor the attacks, ease of access and execution weighs in favor of Turkey but Iran remains as a very capable power regardless. 

Really interesting stuff but reading this reminds me how fucked up the middle east is.

H/A


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## Devildoc (Dec 22, 2016)

The Hate Ape said:


> your post...



Do you really think this was a state-sponsored (or even state-sanctioned) event?  Not a lone gunman, a whacknut who lost an aunt or something in Syria?  Reason I am asking, after watching the pre-shooting video a few times, the guy looks like he is trying to get his nerve up, looks like he wasn't very convicted.

Seems to me if it was state-sponsored the assassination could have happened in a way that would have preserved the life of the assassin and be more spectacular for the masses (not that it wasn't spectacular enough).


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## Blizzard (Dec 22, 2016)

The Hate Ape said:


> post


Interesting thoughts but I tend to follow Occam's Razor.  Lone gunman seems more plausible to me than a widespread conspiracy.


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## Diamondback 2/2 (Dec 22, 2016)

I guess we will have to wait and see if that 20-30k hits a relatives bank account,  or if anyone in the shooters family is being held by any country Iran has influence over, etc. More than one way for a state to "sponsor" a hit. 

I wouldn't be shocked either way.


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