Heartfelt Condolences to Germany and Russia

I am postponing today's blog topic to offer sincere condolences to the family of Andrei Karlov, brutally gunned down in Ankara on Monday, and to the people of Russia and their government. • I also offer condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the hideous truck attack on the Berlin Christmas Market, and to the people and government of Germany. • Our thoughts, prayers and support go out to these innocent people attacked by the forces of evil that have invaded Europe and the world. • • • THE KARLOV ASSASSINATION. Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed revenge for the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey, who was shot in the back by a renegade Turkish special forces police officer in an apparent islamic terror attack. Putin spoke with other members of his cabinet in a brief meeting that was broadcast and translated on RT just hours after Ambassador Andrei Karlov was publicly gunned down : "We have to know who organized the killing, who gave orders to the assassin. The fight against terrorism will only be stepped up." Putin called Karlov an "outstanding diplomat" and said he knew him personally. He called for a memorial to be erected in Ambassador Karlov's honor. Karlov, 62, had been Russia's ambassador to Turkey since July 2013. Prior to his current post, Karlov was Russia's ambassador to North Korea from 2001-2006. Putin said an investigation into the incident is already underway. • Photographers captured the chilling moment 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas opened fire inside an Ankara art exhibit Monday, killing Karlov and wounding at least three others. CNN reported that Karlov received multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The assassin shouted jihadist propaganda before being killed, including "Allahu akbar" and Arabic verses popular with jihadists, according to a FoxNews.com translation of video of the attack. He also shouted : "Do not forget Aleppo, do not forget Syria...we die there every day...We are not safe here in the streets when they are dying over there. You’ll never be safe as long as other mothers are unsafe...Keep filming me, only my dead corpse will leave this building." He then turned back to the Syria conflict : "Whoever is responsible for this [tyranny] is going to pay." Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Altintas had been working for the riot police squad in Ankara for the past 2 1/2 years. Witnesses said he entered the building with a police ID. • Still and video cameras were trained on Karlov, who was giving a speech to open a photo exhibit at the Ankara Center for Contemporary Art when the man wearing a dark suit suddenly shot Karlov from behind. Video captured the incident and shows Karlov grimacing and falling to the ground as the gunman, later identified as Altintas, moves toward his body. • Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek told AFP the attack was aimed at ruining relations between Turkey and Russia. The two countries had begun normalizing ties in June 2016. That followed a difficult period caused when a Turkish combat aircraft shot down a Russian military jet in November 2015. • Shortly after Monday's attack, the US State Department tweeted about a reported shooting in the area of the US Embassy in Ankara and warned US citizens to stay away. The State Department later clarified that it was referring to Karlov's shooting and not a new incident. US Secretary of State John Kerry called the assassination a "despicable attack." Kerry called the killing was "an assault on the right of all diplomats to safely and securely advance and represent their nations around the world." Kerry said the US is ready to offer help to Russia and Turkey in the investigation of the attack. • Karlov is survived by his wife and son. Our hearts go out to them in their grief at the loss of their husband and father. • • • THE BERLIN CHRISTMAS MARKET ATTACK. A truck plowed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin on Monday killing at least nine people and injuring more than 50 others, police said. The police tweeted that the truck rammed into the market outside the capital's popular Christmas market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Monday evening at 8 p.m. While police say the incident appears to be an attack, an investigation is underway. Bild newspaper posted a picture of a large Scania truck with a broken windshield on the sidewalk alongside the market. The man suspected to be the driver of the truck was arrested several hundred yards from the scene and is being questioned by police, according to local news reports. A passenger in the truck reportedly died. • European Christmas markets during the month of December are traditional -- with Christmas lights, decorations, music, carved wood and other local handicrafts, and baked goods and candies that represent the city or region of each market. But, this year police all over Europe have been patrolling Christmas markets, usually in plainclothes, because the open, joyful markets with their large open spaces are easy targets for terrorists. And, anyone who has ever visited a German Christmas Market knows that they are some of the most beautiful, welcoming markets in Europe. Of course, Monday's truck attack in Berlin has reminded Europeans of the terrorist truck attack on Bastille Day in Nice, France, last summer. • • • Dear readers, there is no place for violence and hatred at Christmastide. It is a time of peace and love for Christian families and friends who celebrate the Nativity of Jesus, as well as a time of warmth and friendship for those who simply bask in the joyful light that the Christian festivities bring to a cold and dark northern European December solstice when daylight lasts no more than 8 to 10 hours. And there is never a time or place for a diplomat to be gunned down. We pray that there will be not retaliation for Ambassador Karlov's death, but an effort to bring the people of Turkey and Russia closer together in their sorrow and shock, even in the violent maelstrom that surrounds the Syria civil war. • For all the innnocent victims of Monday's hate-filled attacks, we pray for eternal peace. For their families, we offer our deepest sympathy. For those who could stop the violence in Syria, we pray that they will consider the value in every human life. And, to those who feed on violence to carry out such atrocities as we witnesssed Monday, we remind them that their acts will not destroy Christmas, for it symbolizes the gift of love from God to humankind, and love will never be defeated by hatred.