Ambassador shooting: Russia pushes back on Turkey's Gulenist claim


The Kremlin has pushed back against Turkey's allegations that a movement led by exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Ankara.
"We need to wait for results of a joint investigative group. You shouldn't be in a rush to make conclusions until the investigation identifies who was behind the murder of our ambassador," Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said Wednesday.
Russian and Turkish investigators are trying to learn more about the assassination of Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov, who was gunned down Monday evening while speaking at the opening of an art exhibit in Turkey's capital.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that there are "leads regarding the foreign connections" of the shooter, who has been identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas.
"The FETO connection of Russian Ambassador Karlov's assassin is obvious. He is a member of FETO; there is no need to hide this," Erdogan said on Turkish television, using the shorthand name for the Fethullah Terrorist Organization.
Gulen, a former ally and current rival of Erdogan, has been in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. He leads a popular movement called Hizmet, which includes hundreds of schools, hospitals and relief agencies.
But Turkey's government accuses the movement of being behind afailed coup in July -- an allegation Gulen denies. Ankara has demanded that the United States extradite the cleric.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin will delay his annual news conference on Thursday in order to pay his respects to the slain ambassador, whose funeral will be held that day, Russian state-run news agency Sputnik reported.

Shooter: 'Don't forget Aleppo!'

Police say Altintas was the 22-year-old Turkish police officer standing behind Karlov while the ambassador was speaking at the Cagdas Sanat Merkezi modern arts center in Ankara.
Altintas, dressed in a dark suit and tie, fired several shots at Karlov, shouting, "God is greatest! Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria! Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria!"
What do we know about the assassin?
Turkish security forces eventually killed Altintas, Turkey's Interior Ministry said.
Altintas was not on police duty at the time, having taken a one-day sick leave Monday, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.Investigators are checking whether he'd had any connection with Russian Embassy staff, according to Anadolu.
Officials with Ankara's Cankaya district, which operates the art center, said Wednesday that Altintas bypassed an X-ray machine at the center by showing his police identification. As a police officer, Altintas would have been permitted to carry a firearm at all times.
"It was found out that the attacker was warned by the security staff when he didn't go through the X-ray, and upon this (the attacker) entered by showing his official police ID," the district's council said.

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