Who's behind Russian diplomat's murder in Ankara?
Turkish officials are seeking the true motive behind the slaying of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov at a public event in Ankara Dec. 19.
The Dec. 19 assassination of Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, could have come straight out of a Terrorist 101 handbook — and perhaps it did.
The authorities are examining potential motives for the slaying, including the possibility that the assassin was a Gulenist pretending to be a jihadist.
Karlov was assassinated in Ankara while attending a photo gallery opening. The assailant was identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, a 22-year-old off-duty riot police officer who was shot dead by his colleagues.
The ambassador had served in Turkey since June 2013 and was well known in Ankara as a kind, hospitable and soft-spoken man. He skillfully rode the tides of high tension between Ankara and Moscow before being recalled from Ankara after the Russian plane was shot down in November 2015. Having just returned a couple of months ago, Karlov was seen as Russia's most crucial interlocutor in Turkey.
