Whoever approves of the killing of the Russian ambassador in Ankara has his reasons; emotionally, religiously, and in principle. Whoever disapproves also has his reasons, including religious reasons. Personally, I am not really interested in that discussion. There is evidence for both opinions. Either position can be right or wrong; which means to me, that you are free to choose which position to take.
I tend to look at things through the perspective of strategy; and even from this point of view, the action is debatable. Was it useful? Will its impact help restrain Russian atrocities in Syria? I would guess not, but I could be wrong. Combine the ambassador’s killing with the murder of another Russian official from the Foreign Ministry last night in his apartment, and who knows, Moscow could be starting to consider the blowback ramifications of their campaign in Syria. Insofar as I think this phase of the war is drawing to a close, though, I am not really sure how impactful this is.
When the story first broke, I immediately suspected the hand of foreign intelligence attempting to draw Turkey into a conflict with Russia; but I do not think that was accurate. I think the attacker was acting on his own initiative, driven by his sense of duty towards Russia’s victims in Syria. No doubt he could not bear to see a Russian official enjoying an art exhibit in Ankara, while people next door were being decimated by his country’s warplanes. He had the means, the skills, the opportunity, and he acted. It is exactly the type of action that is impossible to anticipate or prevent.
As I wrote last night, I don’t really think this will actually cause deterioration in Turkish-Russian relations. And that, in and of itself, should indicate something to us about the value of targeting such figures. Yesterday morning, Andrey Karlov surely believed he was an important man, this morning, he is just another dead bureaucrat, and life goes on, more or less, unchanged. And, I suppose, part of why that is so, is because of the timing. Had this occurred last year, it may have had a greater impact. But, I think both Russia and Turkey understand that we are entering a new phase in the Syrian conflict, and I think both countries are generally eager to move into that phase, and the death of an ambassador is probably not going to be enough to derail that.