Turkish authorities identify five suspects in connection with Russian envoy’s murder: Report

ANKARA

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has identified five suspects in connection with the murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov and is pursuing the possibility that one of the five might have ordered the assassin police officer to kill the envoy, daily Yeni Şafak reported on June 12.Details continue to emerge regarding the assassination of Karlov, who was killed late on Dec. 19, 2016, by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş in central Ankara, as the prosecutor’s office has been conducting an extensive investigation to determine who was behind the murder.The prosecutor’s office has determined that Altıntaş went to a five-star hotel in Ankara’s Çankaya district in late November 2016 and that he might have received the order to kill Karlov during a meeting at the hotel.Prosecutors have accordingly determined five suspects who stayed at the hotel at the time and who might have been in contact with Altıntaş during his visit.The assassin was also determined to have gone to a shopping center in the Yenimahalle district a few days before going to the hotel, during which time he conducted two online meetings on FaceTime. Authorities believe that the person Altıntaş spoke to on FaceTime might also be a person he met at the hotel.