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Terrorists avenge Russia for their defeat in Aleppo: Analyst

Tuesday, 20 December 2016 6:42 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 20 December 2016 6:43 PM ]

A picture taken on December 19, 2016 shows Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Ankara, lying on the floor after being shot by Mevlut Mert Altintas (R) during an attack during a public event in Ankara. (AFP photo)

Russian Ambassador to Ankara, Andrey Karlov, was shot dead while delivering a speech on Monday. The assassin has been identified as 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, who was “neutralized" by Turkish police after killing the envoy. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said both he and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agree that the assassination was an act of provocation to ruin relations between the two countries.

Mark Sleboda, international relations and security analyst from Moscow, told Press TV’s Top 5 that the assassination of Russian envoy indicates terrorists active in Syria are resorting to tactics of terrorism, because they are angry with Russia and Syria for their defeat in eastern Aleppo.

“It is quite clear from his (assassin’s) statements that revenge for the liberation of east Aleppo from al-Qaeda ... in Syria was definitely part of his motivations.”

Pointing to the terrorists’ motive to undermine the victory of Syria and Russia in Aleppo, he noted, “There is a lot of anger out there. There is a lot of [terrorists] and Western gnashing of teeth and pulling out hair over what is going on and this individual or perhaps a group acted out on it.”

“They (terrorist groups) are not able to enact the regime change they wanted; so, instead they shot an old unarmed man in the back and yelled glory to God,” he added.

Some of the assassin’s words before he was shot dead by Turkish police are not being reported largely on the Western mainstream media, he said, noting, “Part of his words were similar to the unofficial anthem of al-Nusra” Front.

Criticizing the Turkish government for the incident, he said, “There is a titanic security lapse amounting to criminal negligence,” and “it is a lapse on the part of the host country, which is responsible for the safety of ambassadors."

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