Alalam - Russia

The TU-154 plane landed on the runway late on Tuesday where it was received by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Karlov's widow Marina was also aboard the plane, along with a Russian doctor and psychologist who have been accompanying her since she suffered a “nervous breakdown” after witnessing the hit on her husband.

Karlov was shot dead while delivering a speech on the opening of a photo exhibition dubbed, Russia in the eyes of Turks, in the Turkish capital, Ankara on Monday.

Following the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the boosting of security at home and abroad, especially at Russian embassies around the world. 

Marina Davydova Karlova, (C) widow of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, stands during a ceremonial farewell with full state honors on the tarmac of Ankara's Esenboga Airport in Ankara on December 20, 2016, before the coffin is transported on a Russian plane for Moscow. (Photo by AFP)

The assassin of the Russian ambassador has been identified as 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, who had served with the Turkish anti-riot police for around three years. Altintas was "neutralized" by Turkish police after killing the envoy.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told his US counterpart John Kerry that both Moscow and Ankara know that that US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen's movement was behind the attack.

Similar claims were also made by other Turkish officials shortly after the assassination.

All of which have been denied by Gulen who Turkey also blames for a failed July coup, Press TV reported.

SA