Russian Ambassador to Turkey shot dead

Ankara, Dec 19

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov died after being shot by an unidentified gunman here late Monday, the embassy announced.

Karlov was shot while making a speech at a painting exhibition in the Turkish capital, the Russian embassy said, adding it believed that it was a radical Islamist attack.

Karlov was envoy since July 2013.

The attack comes a day before Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu heads to Moscow for talks on Syria with his Russian and Iranian counterparts.

CNN reported the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" before firing at the diplomat.