Andrei Karlov (4 February 1954-19 December 2016) was a Russian diplomat who served as ambassador to North Korea from 2001 to 2006 and to Turkey from 2013 to 2016. He was assassinated by Mevlut Mert Altintas on 19 December 2016 in retaliation for Russia's role in the Syrian victory at the Battle of Aleppo.
Biography[]
Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union on 4 February 1954. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1976, and he graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry in 1992. From 2001 to 2006, Karlov served as ambassador to North Korea, becoming a fluent speaker of Korean as a result. In July 2013, Karlov was appointed ambassador to Turkey, one of Russia's historic rivals. On 19 December 2016, Karlov attended an art exhibition in the Turkish capital of Ankara, where he was shot at point-blank range by off-duty policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas as he gave a speech. The full murder scene was caught on camera, as was the death of the assassin.