Mevlut Mert Altintas, an off-duty police officer, was the gunman who assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey on Monday, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a press conference. The attacker was born in 1994 in the town of Soke in Turkey's Aydin province, he said. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported that the gunman has been neutralized. But it was not immediately clear whether the attacker was killed or captured by police.

Russia's ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an art exhibition in Ankara on Monday, after the gunman shouted, "Do not forget Aleppo!" as he opened fire.

The shooting of Ambassador Andrey Karlov was captured on video. Russia's foreign ministry described it as a "terror attack."

Russia has been instrumental in helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in its push to retake the eastern sector of Aleppo, which had been held by rebels for nearly four years.

"We are currently in contact with Turkish authorities, who are assuring us that a thorough, comprehensive investigation will be conducted," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in remarks broadcast on Russian television. "Murderers will be punished. Terrorism won't sustain. We'll fight it."

(Source: CNN)