ANKARA, Turkey - A Russian official says that the country's ambassador to Turkey has died after being shot by a gunman in Ankara.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the announcement in a live televised statement.

Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition in the capital, Ankara, when a man wearing a suit and tie shouted "Allahu akbar" and fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience.

The assassin was later killed by police.