The assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey by a Turkish policeman has the world on edge. Turkey is a NATO ally, and therefore Russian retaliation for what appears to be a jihadist attack would put the United States and all of NATO in a very tough situation.

At a moment when Turkey’s government should really be trying to mend fences with the Russians, it instead appears to be using this tragedy for cynical political purposes. Reuters reports that Turkish officials are now insinuating that the assassination has to do with the Gulen Network, an Islamic religious and political rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which was also blamed for the recent attempted military coup.