Russian Ambassador to Turkey wounded in attack.

[Arsenic]

This is still a breaking news story so I don't have much in the terms of details.

Oh boy I do not see this ending well. It is showing Russia that Turkey is either too incompetent or doesn't care enough to protect Russia's people. With the U.S still in election season I could also see this being used as another front for their military to show off their strength and new equipment.

Or maybe I'm too cynical about the state of the world and it was a random crime of opportunity. "Hey blade I just shot the Russian ambassador and caught it on video can I join your gang yet?! *que spetznaz raid*

What does the round table think will happen?? It's fun to imagine outcomes!

I'll update this when more information is available!

Update: The ambassador has been declared dead. He was giving a speech when a member of the crowd yelled the now infamous "Allahu Akbar" and shot him 8 times. The shooter was gunned down by police.

This ambassador helped broker the evacuation plan for Aleppo. This also comes one day before turkey meets Russia and Iran in Moscow for talks.

 

[Somewhere_]

I think Putin will use any excuse he can to further his goals. This will be one of them.

 

[Esper]

First of all, this is pretty serious as ambassadors are supposed to be protected by their host countries since they're the representatives of their own countries. It's an attack on diplomacy itself to "shoot the messenger" as it were. Regardless of the countries involved it sends a bad message to all the radicals and terrorists around the world.

For Russia specifically, I can imagine that the image being painted there is one of Russians being victims. The same narrative was used to annex parts of Ukraine so I would expect that Putin and others would use this to help fuel that narrative and keep public opinion behind them.

It's also pretty frightening for Turkey. Turkey's seen as one of the "stable" countries in the Middle East. At least it was. Nominally a democracy and an ally to Europe and the West, so we care about how it's doing. This is just another sign that things there aren't doing well. After that coup attempt and the crackdown I don't know what will happen and how it will impact Russia's actions in Syria or Erdogan's attempts to build more power for himself.

 

[Stroker Ace]

I feel this is a direct response to the atrocities in Aleppo. Was it religiously driven? I don't think so, because of the fact that Russia is basically letting all of this happen.

 

[Arsenic]

Update: The shooter was a 22 year old member of Ankara's riot team, a Mevlut Mert Altintas. He is said to have shot the ambassador 8 times before climbing up and pacing around the dead body, shooting it again while yelling things such as "never forget Aleppo. Don't forget Syria!" He was killed in a shootout with police.

3 others are reported injured.

----

With all the recent events in Turkey it's just going to show how it cannot solve it's security threats, and I see it to be used by Turkey's illustrious leader to impose even more heavy handed legislation and move his country to the Muslim dictator ship he oh so desperately wants (Think Iran)

 

[Mewtwolover]

The same narrative was used to annex parts of Ukraine so I would expect that Putin and others would use this to help fuel that narrative and keep public opinion behind them.

What annexation you're talking about? The truth is that Crimea joined Russia after fair refedendum. Remember that western mainstream media spreads anti-Russia propaganda so you need to be careful when watching news about Russia.

 

[Hands]

What annexation you're talking about? The truth is that Crimea joined Russia after fair refedendum. Remember that western mainstream media spreads anti-Russia propaganda so you need to be careful when watching news about Russia.

Plus let's not pretend that the Ukrainian "revolution" to dispose of a democratically legitimate leader wasn't headed by neo Nazi outfits.

This recent event won't change much. Russia will continue bombing ISIS and Turkey will continue attacking innocent Kurds.

 

[lloebet]

I don't think much will come from this to be honest since the little alahu akbar thing can mark it up as a terrorist attack despite him being a turkish police officer.

 

[Esper]

What annexation you're talking about? The truth is that Crimea joined Russia after fair refedendum. Remember that western mainstream media spreads anti-Russia propaganda so you need to be careful when watching news about Russia.

Call it whatever you want, but it was a land grab on Russia's part and it upset the lives of lots of people living there. It's not recognized by most of the world either. The countries that recognize it as legal are not the best people you want on your side: North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe. Bastions of human and civil rights, they are.

 

[Hands]

I don't think much will come from this to be honest since the little alahu akbar thing can mark it up as a terrorist attack despite him being a turkish police officer.

Why would him being Turkish or a Police officer act as mitigating circumstances in whether we call this a "terrorist" attack? If the Ambassador had been American there wouldn't even be a question, it'd be war and it would have been "TERRORRRISSMMMM"

 

[gimmepie]

Why would him being Turkish or a Police officer act as mitigating circumstances in whether we call this a "terrorist" attack? If the Ambassador had been American there wouldn't even be a question, it'd be war and it would have been "TERRORRRISSMMMM"

I guess the question is, when does a murder become terrorism?
This clearly had political motivations just as much if not more so than personal motivations, so in my opinion this is terrorism but it's curious to see where other people set that boundary.

 

[Hands]

I guess the question is, when does a murder become terrorism?
This clearly had political motivations just as much if not more so than personal motivations, so in my opinion this is terrorism but it's curious to see where other people set that boundary.

Whether the victims are from the West or not is really the key factor for most.

I should elaborate before I accidentally upset anyone. The media largely decides what is and isn't a terrorist attack (see: anders breivik vs the Paris shootings) and since by default the West has this inane ideal that we are the beacons of good in the world and Russia/USSR/Arab countries/Commies etc are the perpetual bad guys it's hard for a lot of Westerners to see any attack on their own as anything but terrorism. It's equally hard for them to see any attack against a perceived enemy as terrorism, even if it completely fits the Western narrative for the word.

 

[Arsenic]

I certainly see it as a terrorist attack, as if it were a US ambassador it would immediately become one.. I can also see it as an assassination though, as it doesn't do much to spread terror long term.

What it's perceived as doesn't matter though, as in the end it's going to hamper the repair of turky-Russian relations. As if Russia's involvement with working for Assad didn't already do that.

 

[Somewhere_]

For a murder to become terrorism, it must have political motivations I think.

 

[Masterge77]

The Turkish government is now claiming that the individual who killed the Russian Ambassador has ties to Fethullah Gulen, the individual who was accused of the coup earlier this year. Not surprised though, given how much of a punching bag Gulen has become for the Turkish government, but I highly doubt that he has connections with the recent assassination.

 

[Hands]

For a murder to become terrorism, it must have political motivations I think.

Would that not make the assassination attempts of Fidel Castro acts of terrorism then by the US? I think Terrorism, outside of being the Westy buzzword of the decade, is a word that holds more use for attacks on people who are not politically active (members of the public) but with the political motivation of destabilization. I think, killing an ambassador, or indirect persons, even when political, could also be considered terrorism.

 

[Somewhere_]

Would that not make the assassination attempts of Fidel Castro acts of terrorism then by the US? I think Terrorism, outside of being the Westy buzzword of the decade, is a word that holds more use for attacks on people who are not politically active (members of the public) but with the political motivation of destabilization. I think, killing an ambassador, or indirect persons, even when political, could also be considered terrorism.

Technically, maybe. It depends on your POV. Its defense against a dictator, so from the dictator's eyes its terrorism, but from our eyes its not terrorism because its defending others.

That makes the definition of terrorism inconsistent if we go by what we have, so there has got to be a more specific definition. That definition, I do not know.