Ankara

The bizarre diplomatic scandal that erupted over the weekend, after the Netherlands banned several prominent Turkish politicians from organizing and participating in pro-Erdogan rallies just days ahead of the Dutch general election where immigration will be perhaps the most important topic, and which prompted numerous accusations of "nazism" and "fascism" by Turkey's president Erdogan, appeared set to escalate further on Monday when the Turkish cabinet is expected to consider imposing sanctions on the Netherlands in a deepening row with the country's NATO ally.

A manhunt was underway for a gunman who opened fire on people at a packed nightclub on the shores of Istanbul's Bosphorus waterway on New Year's morning, killing at least 39 people, including 15 foreigners, then fled the scene.

The suspect escaped the scene by changing clothes at the club after the attack, according to reports on Turkish media. There have also been rumors that there was a second attacker, but officials are now just talking about one terrorist.

In the latest example of poor decision-making by the outgoing president, not to mention some truly troubling political optics, with the world on fire following three separate acts of apparent terrorism around the globe, including Ankara, Zurich and Berlin, White House pool reports showed that President Barack Obama was off to enjoy a game of golf shortly after learning of today's tragic events.

Update: US equity markets stumbled and gold and bonds were bid as safe havens as the headlines hit...

• RUSSIA AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY DIES OF GUNSHOT WOUND - RIA CITES SOURCE

Another video of the moment of the shooting:

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— ?????.?? (@GraniTweet) December 19, 2016

Is this the Archduke moment?

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When reporting yesterday on the abrupt deterioration in European-Turkish relations, in which the European Parliament voted Thursday in an overhwleming majority to impose a temporary, non-binding freeze on talks for Turkey's accession into the EU, we said that it "remains unclear if Turkey will proceed with releasing the nearly three million Syrian refugees allegedly contained within its borders as a result of the European Parliament vote." Today we have an answer: as the FT reports, Turkish president Erdogan warned Brussels on Friday he would allow 3 million refugees to cross over to Europe