VIDEO: Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov Shot Dead By Turkish Cop In Ankara

Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was shot by a Turkish police officer shouting about Syria’s civil war in the capital of Ankara on Monday, according to witnesses and officials.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed Ambassador Andrey Karlov, 62, was later pronounced dead from his injuries, and called the shooting a terrorist act.

Turkish police officers responding to the incident fatally shot the gunman, who was identified by officials as Mevlut Mert Altintas, aged 22. Turkish officials confirmed earlier reports that Altintas was himself a police officer, working riot detail in Ankara.

The leaders of Turkey and Russia said Karlov’s killing has been intended to ruin Russia-Turkey ties. Speaking in televised remarks during a meeting with senior officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a “provocation aimed at derailing Russia-Turkey ties and the peace process in Syria.”

“We must know who was directing the killer,” Putin said in televised remarks. He ordered top officials to strengthen protection of the Turkish Embassy in Moscow and asked Turkey to increase security at the Russian mission in Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a video message being shown on several Turkish TV channels, said that “this is a provocation to damage the normalization process of Turkish-Russian relations. But both the Russian and Turkish administrations have the determination not to fall for this provocation.”

Both leaders said Russian investigators will be part of the official probe into Karlov’s assassination.

-CBS