Suspect in Russian envoy assassination case remanded

A suspect was remanded in custody in capital Ankara Friday as part of a probe into the assassination of former Russian ambassador to Turkey, according to a security source.

Ambassador Andrey Karlov died after being shot multiple times at an art exhibition in Ankara on Dec. 19, 2016.

He was delivering a speech when the assailant, 22-year-old Turkish policeman Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, opened fire.

On Friday, a former Information and Communication Technologies Authority worker, H. K., was arrested, a security official, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

A court in Ankara later remanded the suspect in custody on the charge of "association in plotting manslaughter", the source added.

Earlier, six people were arrested, including three police officers, Guru Media Broadcast Group Chairman Hayreddin Aydınbaş and organizer of the exhibition, Mustafa Timur Özkan.

Turkish-Russian relations were tested after Karlov's assassination. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the shooting as a "provocation" designed to undermine bilateral ties.

Putin last December signed an executive order awarding Karlov the title of the Hero of the Russian Federation.