Russian Ambassador in Turkey Assassinated

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Grim stuff.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38369962

And a live video of the attack. This is under spoilers. Click at your own discretion.
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

[MilitantRadical 2,844]

Uhm, whoa. Is this a Jason Bourne movie or something? Wake me up when it's over.

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My question is where was security? Only one guard protecting the ambassador and that guard went all jihad on him?

[jmsepe 2,038]

Video has been removed. My, is it history all over again? 

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7 hours ago, jmsepe said:

Video has been removed. My, is it history all over again? 

Turkey and Russia have been recently working together on the diplomatic level to try and find a way to sort out Syria. Turkey has in an interest in Syria due to the Kurds and Russia is there to prop up the Syrian government and possibly stop a pipeline from being built, a pipeline originating from Qatar and travelling into Europe. Another important factor is the Turkish Stream pipeline project. A pipeline going from Russia through Turkey and into Europe.

Since Turkey is the defacto country for any pipeline originating in the Middle East or from Iran, then Turkey is literally the gate-keeper of future Middle Eastern geopolitical influence.

If the war in Syria ends quickly and the government wins then this benefits Syria (obviously), Iran, Lebanon and Russia. This is a terrible outcome for the Saudis and for Qatar because they want that pipeline to run through Syria, it is also a terrible outcome for the USA because they have been providing money and weapons to various Syrian rebel groups and Islamic militants to overthrow the Syrian government.

The question about the assassination of Andrei Karlov is which country stands to gain the most from his death?

It seems like the pipeline wars are escalating...

 

[Larks2242 251]

Shooting down planes, assassinating ambassadors, Not he way to make friends Recep. 

[Odainsaker 2,134]

It unfortunately goes both ways, though:  Russia had also earlier shot down a Turkish aircraft, while Russia's clients across the Black Sea had shot down a Malaysian passenger jet.  Russian sailors on ships passing through the Bosphorus had been sighted ominously aiming their weapons at Istanbul.  Not that American sailors visiting Istanbul are getting it any better, what with Turkish Youth ultranationalists on the prowl.  However, Erdoğan and Putin, like all authoritarians, have common interests in tightening their holds on power and sticking it to the liberal West, so the reprisals will continue to play out over the heads of Syrian civilians while the two leaders kiss and make up behind the scenes inside their grandiose mega-palaces.

Hmmm, we were repeatedly told that while Obama's feckless naiveté uncorked the terrorists and got our ambassador to Libya killed, Putin's chessmaster brilliance and determined strength has ensured continued Russian success and through fear and respect.  Actually, now it seems Putin's strongman muscularity just brought Russia yet more terrorism and similarly got his own ambassador to Turkey killed.  This in turn follows a long line of terrorism striking Russia itself, from the Volgograd Station bombing, the Metrojet plane crash, the Moscow theater siege, to the massacre at Beslan, all while Putin fights back by shooting down Malaysian planes and bombing hospitals in Aleppo.  Nope, I don't necessarily see any chessmasters, grand conspiracies, or election parables here, but I am seeing a grotesque rerun of Southeast Asia in the 1970s.