Assassination of Andrei Karlov

I was talking to a ranking official about the escape of Abdulgadir Masharipov, the Tajik-origin Uzbek citizen who is wanted for killing 39 people on Jan. 1 in Istanbul's Reina nightclub on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), or DEASH in Arabic.

The investigations into the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, are producing "interesting developments," according to Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu agreed on Jan. 10 on the need to observe a ceasefire in Syria while continuing to fight "terrorist groups", Russia's foreign ministry said.

Lavrov and Çavuşoğlu, who spoke by telephone, discussed an upcoming meeting on the Syrian situation that is due to take place in the Kazakh capital Astana. 

One the same day as tense debates started in Turkey's parliament for a constitutional shift from a parliamentary to a presidential system to grant him more executive power, President Tayyip Erdoğan addressed U.S.

The assassin of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, repeatedly studied his target's photo on the Internet, according to the police investigation into the Dec. 19 killing. 

Altıntaş, who killed Karlov during a photo exhibition in Ankara's Center of Modern Art, looked at the pictures from his housemate's computer, daily Habertürk reported on Jan. 3.  

Let's go back to the night Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov became a victim of a dark assassination.
President Recep Tayip Erdoğan gave his first statement a couple of hours later.

Going to police school changed Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, the off-duty police officer who killed Russia's ambassador to Turkey last week, according to the deceased officer's sister.

Seher Ö. said her 22-year-old brother had no dream of becoming a police officer.

Turkey and Russia have understood that they feel confident with each other on strategic issues, a top Turkish diplomat has said, adding that both sides kept their words in the implementation of the Aleppo deal that provided a partial ceasefire and evacuation from the city. 

The assassination of Russian Ambassador to Ankara Adrey Karlov was an attempt to hurt Russia and harm Russian-Turkish relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, adding that the incident would not harm relations between the two countries. 

The fact that a police officer, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, can kill Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov shows us that the threat is still not eliminated.