Russia joins probe into Turkey envoy murder

A TEAM of Russian investigators is in Ankara to uncover how an off-duty policeman assassinated Moscow’s ambassador in an art gallery, as Turkey made its first arrests over Monday’s murder.

Veteran diplomat Andrei Karlov was shot four times in the back by Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, in a brazen attack as he opened an exhibition of Russian photography.

The killing stunned Ankara and Moscow, which have clashed repeatedly over the Syria conflict but in recent weeks have begun cooperating closely on the evacuations from war-wrecked Aleppo.

An unprecedented meeting on Syria between the foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran went ahead in Moscow yesterday, despite the assassination.

“We have to know who directed the hand of the killer,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said, and agreed with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a surprise move to send a Russian investigative team to the scene.

Welcoming Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the Syria talks in Moscow, his Russian opposite number Sergei Lavrov confirmed the investigative team had arrived in Ankara.

Images showed Karlov stumble before falling on his back as Altintas brandished his firearm at terrified and cowering onlookers. The gunman shouted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) and said all those responsible for what had happened in Syria and Aleppo would be held accountable.

Altintas had set off the metal detector security check when he entered the exhibition in Ankara as he was carrying a gun. But after showing his police identity document, he was waved through.

Six people have reportedly been detained, including his sister, mother, father and an uncle.