Andrey Karlov

As soon as the news that a Russian military transport plane crashed in the Black Sea as it took off from Sochi on Dec. 25, killing all 92 aboard, reached Ankara, the Turkish leadership immediately sent their condolences to Moscow, as they should.

Is a photograph that reveals bare violence a news story or is it violence porn? This is an endless debate.
Most journalists would say a photograph of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov lying on the floor and the murderer standing next to him in his hand as a frame that "absolutely has to be shown." 

I don't know who invented the term "frenemy" to refer to the implicit alliance of Israel and Saudi Arabia against Iran in the wake of the U.S.-Iran deal, but it seems well-suited to describing the new Russia-Turkey friendship as well.

Turkey and Russia have understood that they feel confident with each other on strategic issues, a top Turkish diplomat has said, adding that both sides kept their words in the implementation of the Aleppo deal that provided a partial ceasefire and evacuation from the city. 

U.S. Ambassador to Ankara John Bass on Dec. 23 said he "categorically rejected" the allegations that his government was involved in the assassination of Russia's top envoy to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, who was shot dead on Dec. 19 by a Turkish police officer. 

The fact that a police officer, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, can kill Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov shows us that the threat is still not eliminated.

When news broke of the horrendous murder of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov in the heart of the Turkish capital, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was on his way to Moscow to meet his Russian and Iranian counterparts for critical talks on Syria. No doubt the assassination was a rigorously crafted time bomb aimed at producing swift implications for the Moscow trilateral.

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, who was killed in an assassination by a Turkish policeman in the capital Ankara, was laid to rest in a funeral ceremony held in Moscow on Dec. 22.

Senior Russian leaders attended a memorial for Andrey Karlov, Russia's assassinated ambassador to Turkey, at the country's Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Dec. 22.
        
Karlov's family, President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and ministry staff all attended the event.

Russian officials will examine the phone of Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, who killed Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov late on Dec. 19, as part of a joint investigation between Russian and Turkish officials regarding the assassination of the envoy.