A Turkish security official said Ankara saw “very strong signs” the gunman who killed Russia’s ambassador there on Monday was a follower of a US-based Muslim cleric blamed for orchestrating a failed coup in July.
A representative of cleric Fethullah Gulen, Alp Aslandogan, denied any link and said the exiled cleric condemned the murder as a “heinous act”.
The Turkish official, who declined to be identified, said the current investigation was focused on the gunman’s links to the network of Gulen’s followers, which the government calls the “Gulenist Terrorist Organisation” or “FETO”.
The government says Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999, created a “parallel network” in the police, military, judiciary and civil service aimed at overthrowing the state. Gulen denies this.
President Tayyip Erdogan identified the attacker, who was later killed by security forces, as a member of the Ankara riot police who had spent 2-1/2 years on the force.
“The people he lived with before school were detained over FETO. It was determined that the people with whom he graduated from school were from a FETO team,” the senior security official said of the attacker.
“Information was obtained to the effect that people who helped him get into school were from FETO. There are very strong signs that the person who carried out this attack was from FETO. The investigation is currently focused totally on this.”
The official also cited the fact that the attacker had taken July 15-17 as holiday. The government may argue the timing of his holiday demonstrated foreknowledge of the July 15 coup.
The mayor of Ankara, Melih Gokcek, known for his outspoken comments, speculated on his official Twitter account that the attacker may be linked to the group of Fethullah Gulen blamed for the July 15 coup aimed at toppling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
His suggestion has yet to be echoed by other officials but was repeated in the pro-government press, which claimed what Ankara terms the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO) was behind the attack.
“An attack on friendship by treacherous FETO,” said Sabah. “A bullet from FETO,” added the Star daily.
The mainstream Hurriyet said that authorities were investigating the assassin’s possible links to the Gulen movement.
They were particularly focusing on friends Altintas may have had at the police academy, it added.
Gulen adviser Aslandogan, who advises Gulen on media issues, said the allegations by the Turkish official were “laughable” and intended to cover up for lax security.
“Mr Gulen categorically condemns this heinous act,” he said.
