Why a Russian’s Killing in Turkey Was About Syria: QuickTake Q&A

The assassination of Russia’s top envoy in Turkey is by all appearances another bloody result of Syria’s civil war. Video footage shows the assailant shouting religious slogans and “Don’t forget Aleppo,” a reference to the Syrian city where the interests of Turkey and Russia collided, and where the civil war became a humanitarian crisis. Leaders of both countries were quick to pledge that the assassination won’t break ties between Ankara and Moscow, which are still recovering from Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet near its border with Syria last year.

Aleppo is where Russian-backed Syrian troops defeated rebels, most of them Sunni Muslim, after some of the fiercest fighting of the almost six-year-old civil war. Though Turkey actively supported the rebels since the early stages of the war, more recently it’s put a higher value on steering clear of Aleppo so as not to interfere with Russia’s campaign on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad.