Details emerge regarding Karlov assassination

Details continue to emerge regarding the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, who was killed late on Dec. 19 by a Turkish police officer in central Ankara.
Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, the police officer who killed Karlov before being shot dead by police, was involved in an investigation into the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) in 2015, Fevzi Kızılkoyun from daily Hürriyet reported. He participated in the meetings of the Gülenists in the western province of İzmir, according to a report dated Aug. 13, 2015. 

Another possible FETÖ suggestion was involved in the column of daily Hürriyet columnist Abdülkadir Selvi, who claimed soon after the attack that the outlawed group was behind the murder of the Russian envoy.

Selvi also said Altıntaş participated in eight programs of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Turkish capital Ankara after the July 15 failed coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Gülenists.

"There are interesting connections of Altıntaş. The assassin police officer was on duty for eight programs of President Erdoğan in Ankara after July 15," Selvi wrote, adding that he was among the unit that provided domestic security.

"He was in the unit that provided domestic security after the presidential guards. God forbid, he could have also acted there," he also wrote.

Noting that what Altıntaş did on the night of the thwarted coup is unknown, Selvi noted that "the FETÖ member police officer" took a one-day leave of absence around 7:45 a.m. on July 15 in Ankara. 

In his column, Selvi questions who aided and abetted the killer. 

"The connections should be brought to light. From whom he took the assassination order and who helped him should be...