The Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office said on Monday that it had identified five suspects connected to the assassination of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov carried out by off-duty Turkish police officer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş in December 2016, local media reported.
According to the pro-government Yeni Şafak newspaper, in late November 2016, Altıntaş went to a 5-star hotel in Çankaya district of Turkey's capital of Ankara and sent a phone message to his roommate Sercan B., which read "A brother dear to me is coming, I will meet with him."
After the investigators requested the names of the individuals who were staying at the hotel room, five suspects were identified, with one of them currently in the Turkish Republic of Cyprus.
The investigators reportedly believe that one of these suspects might be the person who ordered the assassination of the Russian ambassador.
On December 19, 2016, Karlov was shot dead by Altıntaş at the opening of an art gallery exhibition. Three more people were injured in the shooting. The gunman was killed at the scene by the police. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it considered the attack a terrorist act.
