Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu says the gunman who killed the Russian Ambassador to Ankara is a 22-year-old police officer.

The officer, Mert Altinbas, graduated from the police academy in 2014.

He was a serving as a member of the riot police force for the past two-and-a-half years.

He assassinated Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey during a gallery opening in the capital.

Russian officials called it an act of terror.

The attack appeared to be a retribution for Kremlin’s role in bloodshed in neighbouring Syria.

(dpa/NAN)