The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ankara continues investigative actions into the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov.

A group of 120 specialists has been involved in the investigation. The representatives of Turkish and Russian investigative authorities organized coordinated work in accordance with the Minnesota Protocol, Anadolu reports.  Currently, 11 suspects have been detained.

The data from killer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş’ mobile phone and bank operations are studied. The possibility that the killer might have used drugs and other medications is also investigated.  It has become known that two days before the coup attempt on July 15, Altıntaş took a leave from the Diyarbakır police department, where he served then.  He spent his vacation in Ankara. Specialists are now clarifying what exactly he did in the capital then.  

The killer had three additional full cartridge clips and 20-25 bullets in his pockets.

The Prosecutor General’s Office is also considering whether it would have been possible to catch the killer alive. In connection with this, the footage of the shootout between the assailant and law enforcement officers after shooting Karlov is studied in detail.

According to the video materials and testimonies of witnesses, after firing shots at Karlov  the assailant went deeper into the hall and began tearing off and throwing on the floor the exhibits of the exhibition hall.  In response to the call to surrender to the police, Altıntaş opened fire.  He then hid behind one of the partitions and began firing at the police. Riot police, which arrived at the scene, wounded him in both thighs and then knees.   

It was established that Altıntaş fell down but continued firing. To the order “surrender” he responded “you won’t take me alive.” It is supposed that the law enforcement officers killed him when they decided that Altıntaş was trying to take out a bomb from behind his back.