Andrej Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey who is today killed in a gun attack at the opening of a photography exhibition in Ankara, he has held the position of ambassador of his country in Turkey since 2013.
Born in Moscow in 1954, he began his diplomatic career in his early 20s after graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He also graduated from the diplomatic academy in his country.
From 2001 to 2006, he was Russia's ambassador to North Korea.
He left behind his wife and son, and Russian agencies report that his wife fainted when she heard he had been killed and was hospitalized.
The British ambassador to Turkey, Richard Moore, described Karlov as a soft-spoken person who was hospitable and professional.
Thoughts w. my Russian colleague Andrei Karlov, his wife & family after this terrible attack. Quietly spoken, hospitable professional.
— Richard Moore (@UKAmbRichard) December 19, 2016
The role of Karlov in Turkey
Karlov was often called in Turkey because of tensions over Russia's role in the war in Syria. After Russia bombed the Turkmen in that Syria who are against its ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Karlov was told by Ankara to convey a clear message to Moscow.
"It is stressful that Moscow's actions are not the fight against terror but the bombing of the villages of Turkmen civilians. This could have serious consequences," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said at the time.
Last fall, before Turkey shot down a Russian plane near the border with Syria that it claimed had violated its airspace, Karlov received repeated complaints that Russia was violating Turkish airspace.
How "unusual" is the assassination
Historians state that it is very possible that this is the first murder of a Russian ambassador since the murder of the representative of the Soviet Union in Poland, Piotr Vojkov.
Vojkov was killed in Warsaw in 1927. In the 19th century, Alexander Griboyedov, a poet and diplomat, died in Tehran when a mob stormed the Russian embassy.
Bonus video:
