Letter from Ankara: 'Even by 2016 standards, Turkey has had an extraordinary 12 months'

Rather than damaging relations between Turkey and Russia, the ambassador's murder may draw them closer
Shocking: the moment a gunman assassinated Russia's ambassador to Turkey
Burhan Ozbilici/AP
Laura Pitel21 December 2016

Stamping their feet to fend off the bone-chilling cold of a December night in the Turkish capital, the gaggle of police, journalists and passers-by gathered outside the city’s Modern Arts Centre exchanged looks of disbelief.

Normally home to travelling film festivals and offbeat exhibitions, on Monday the centre was transformed into a real-life Tarantino set as a black-suited assassin shouting “Don’t forget Aleppo” killed the Russian ambassador with a flurry of shots to the back.

As the sirens blared and the TV cameras rolled into action, Turks were left asking themselves what on earth could possibly happen next.

We all know that the this year will go down in history as one that shook the established order to its core. But even by 2016 standards, Turkey has had an extraordinary 12 months.

A guard stands watch outside Ankara's Modern Arts Centre where the killing took place 
AP

War raged not only over the long border with Syria but also in the cities of Turkey’s Kurdish-majority south east. Deadly bombings struck the country at a rate of roughly one a month.

Then, on July 15, tanks rolled out onto the streets and MPs huddled in underground bunkers as bombs fell on the nation’s parliament in a violent coup attempt that traumatised the nation. Turks will be asking each other where they were on that night for decades to come.

Guards carry the coffin of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov
AP

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a rabble-rouser elected before most had even heard of Nigel Farage or Donald Trump, has few fans in the west.

But the feeling goes both ways. The Turkish press, encouraged by politicians, is riddled with conspiracies blaming the United States and Europe for the recent tumult. Many ordinary people believe them.

The assassination of Andrei Karlov is no different. Turkey was quick to blame the killing on the secretive Islamic movement accused of orchestrating July’s coup attempt, whose leader lives in exile in Pennsylvania. Headlines the next day duly suggested a CIA role.

Rather than damaging relations between Turkey and Russia, it looks like the killing may draw them into a closer embrace.

Instead, it is the nation’s already creaking ties with the west that face yet more strain.

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