Turkey Court sentences Five People to Life in Prison over 2016 Russian Envoy's Killing

Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in 2016. An off-duty police officer, Mevlut Mert Altintas, had fatally shot Karlov at a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19, 2016. On Tuesday, the Turkish prosecutors concluded that a network led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind Karlov’s slaying and charged 28 people, including Gulen, over the killing. Prosecutors even said that the attack was meant to derail warming ties between Turkey and Russia. 

According to reports, the Ankara court convicted three of the defendants of the charges of “attempting to overturn the constitutional order” and of “murder with the aim of terrorism” and sentenced them to two separate life terms. Two other defendants also received one life term each for “attempting to overturn the constitutional order” and 15-year prison terms for aiding the murder. The five defendants include a man accused of being Altintas’ “controller”, a former intelligence officer accused of providing Gulen’s network information on the ambassador’s moves, and a person accused of relaying orders for the killing. 

The Turkish court sentenced eight people prison terms ranging between seven and 10 years for membership in Gulen’s network or for dining the group. Six defendants were also acquitted of all charges. The court ruled to suspend the case against Gulen and eight defendants who were being tried in absentia. The defendants, on the other hand, rejected all accusations against them and are expected to appeal the ruling. Gulen has also denied involvement in the coup or the Russian diplomat’s assassination. 

Meanwhile, Karlov was shot dead a day after protests in Turkey over Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Back then Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that the act was undoubtedly a provocation aimed at disrupting the normalisation of bilateral ties and the peace process in Syria. Karlov was a veteran diplomat who had served as Soviet ambassador to North Korea for much of the 1980s. 

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