December 20, 2016•Update: December 20, 2016
ANKARA
The mainstream U.S. media gave wide coverage to Monday’s assassination of Russia's Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov.
Many media outlets published the story with still images and videos of the assassination at an art gallery in Ankara.
On its website, ABC News headlined, “Russian diplomat assassinated on camera in Turkey.” The news also included video footage of the shooting and details about the gunman, who was killed by police in the incident.
The report said the gunman yelled, “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria” during the attack.
On Monday, Karlov was delivering a speech at the Contemporary Arts Gallery in Ankara's central Cankaya district when the assassin opened fire on the diplomat, critically wounding him.
He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
CNN International also posted six short videos related to the incident, saying in a caption that the attack comes at a time when Turkey and Russia have been enjoying good relations.
Citing an AP photographer who was in the gallery, NBC news reported that the gunman fired eight shots.
National daily USA Today published the story with a photo gallery of mostly AP photos of the incident.
“Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an Ankara art exhibit on Monday evening by a lone Turkish gunman shouting ‘God is great!’ and ‘don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!’’ began The New York Times’ coverage of the assassination.
The Washington Post headlined, “Turkish police officer, invoking Aleppo, guns down Russian ambassador in Ankara.”
“A Turkish police officer who angrily denounced the bloodshed in Syria killed the Russian ambassador,” the report added.
It said the shooting happened in front of “a room full of horrified spectators at an art gallery.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that the shooter was an off-duty officer. It described the incident as a “bloody episode” that was captured on video and posted on social media.
The Huffington Post website ran the headline: “Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador, killed by gunman in Turkey.”
It also quoted a senior security official saying that there were very strong signs the gunman belonged to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a network led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen.
FETO and its leader are accused by the Turkish government of being behind the bloody July 15 defeated coup and a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltrating Turkish institutions, including the military, police, and judiciary.
Reporting by Gamze Türkoğlu Oğuz; Writing by Sorwar Alam
