Karlov assassination indictment accepted: 28 suspects including Gülen

The indictment on the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, who was assassinated in Ankara, was accepted by Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court
Friday, 07 December 2018 15:37

The indictment on the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov on 19 December 2016 was accepted by Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court. The indictment was completed and sent to the prosecutor's office in November. The first hearing will be held on January 8, 2019.

Karlov was shot by an off-duty Turkish police officer named Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş at the opening of an art gallery exhibition in Ankara on December 19, 2016. Three others were injured in the shooting, and the gunman was killed at the scene by the police. 

The indictment, which had been prepared in two years, named 28 suspects. Fethullah Gülen, the fugitive Emre Uslu, and Şerif Ali Tekalan were among the suspects in the indictment. The document also included the claim that the assassination was backed by "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and intelligence services behind them".

It was also claimed that the aim was to end the Turkish-Russian relations and to drag two countries into a war after the airplane crisis between countries.

After the failed coup attempt in 2016, the government officially started to deem the Gülenist network as a terrorist organization and named it Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).