News / Turkey

Turkey arrests media man in Russian ambassador assassination case

Saturday, 25 November 2017 2:00 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 25 November 2017 2:22 PM ]

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

Turkey’s judiciary has arrested the head of a Turkish media group for his alleged involvement in the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Ankara, Andrey Karlov, nearly a year ago.

A judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Saturday that a criminal court in the capital Ankara had ordered the arrest of the chairman of the Guru Media Broadcast Group, Hayreddin Aydinbas, on charges of "association in plotting manslaughter."

Aydinbas had earlier given his testimony to Adem Akinci, a prosecutor from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

He confessed that he had links to the movement of the US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the failed July 2016 coup.

Aydinbas claimed that had broken away from the Gulen movement back in 2008.

This file photo shows Turkish opposition figure Fethullah Gulen at his compound in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the United States. (Photo by AP)

Aydinbas was also the director general for the Eurasian House organization, which held a conference on Russia-Turkey economic relations in 2016 in Moscow. Turkish Ambassador to Russia Huseyin Dirioz attended the event.

An off-duty police officer in civilian clothing, identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, shot down Karlov as he was inaugurating a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19, 2016.

After carrying out the murder, the assailant went on a rant caught on camera, which saw him bawling “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!”

The assassination, condemned by the Turkish and Russian leaders as an attempt to sour Ankara-Moscow ties, came amid cooperation between the countries over the Syrian crisis.

On December 21, 2016, Turkish-language Hurriyet daily newspaper identified Altintas as a member of the team providing security for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The paper said he had served in the taskforce ensuring that no harm would come to the head of state in public events. The group played second fiddle to Erdogan’s personal bodyguards.

Altintas had provided security for the Turkish president eight times since the botched putsch against Erdogan. Over all, he had served two and a half years in anti-riot police.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that Ankara blames the Gulen movement for the assassination plot.

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