Turkey shooting prompts chilling 1914 flashback

The killing of Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, on Tuesday has been seen as reminiscent to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which sparked World War One.

An article in British newspaper the Daily Express has stated that both incidents share “eerie parallels.”

It read: “The 1914 shooting was not perceived as a major international incident at the time and world stock markets barely reacted - today the Dow Jones is up more than 40 points, much as it was before the killing of Andrey Karlov. US TV networks are barely covering the incident.”

The article also said the killers shared similarities.

Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip (pictured above) killed Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, swiftly triggering “sparked a diplomatic crisis which ultimately led to the deaths of 16 million people, including seven million civilians.”

Archduke Franz Ferdinand. (AP)

The killing had compelled world powers to “honor complex treaties and pacts - and the conflict soon spread around the world.”

Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, speaks at a photo exhibition in Ankara on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016, moments before a gunman opened fire on him. (AP)

According to the paper, Princip acted as a professional assassin, “killing Ferdinand opportunistically when his driver took a wrong turn after an earlier bomb plot - carried out by Principe’s co-conspirators - had failed.”

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It then cites Karlov’s killer, Mevlut Mert Aydintas, who worked for Ankara riot police for over two years, as being “cold blooded and calm” as he shot the Russian ambassador.

"He (the attacker) said that I will not leave this place alive," according to a witness speaking to Turkey's CNNTurk news network.

Another similarity, according to the paper, was that Princip was backed by a particular movement.

This picture taken on December 19, 2016 shows Andrey Karlov (bottom), the Russian ambassador to Ankara, lying on the floor after being shot by a gunman (R) during an attack during a public event in Ankara. (AFP)

He “was one of seven Serbian military conspirators led by the Chief of Serbian Military Intelligence Dragutin Dimitrijević, his right-hand man Major Vojislav Tankosić. Tankosić armed the assassins with bombs and pistols and trained them.

“Reports from Turkey this evening suggest that the 22-year-old killer may have been backed by a well-organized and armed pro-Syrian rebel movement,” the paper added. Al Arabiya cannot independently confirm this report, however.

Aydintas carried out the killing while shouting out “Aleppo” and “revenge” as he fired, remarks seen as a reference to the recent deadly attacks on civilians and rebel forces in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo by Syrian and Russian air forces.

After shooting the ambassador, Aydintas repeated the infamous phrase of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "you will not have security, even in your dreams until we live it in reality in our countries."

He was then killed by the police.