Alalam - Turkey

The Turkish language Zaman daily quoted some sources in Ankara that Altintas paid several visits to the Arab country of Qatar after a failed military coup in Turkey.

The Turkish police have also reported that Altintas traveled to Qatar twice in August.

He was also in Qatar in October and had a trip to Doha on Qatari airlines in November, according to the police.

The sources pointed out that the objective of Altintas' trips to Qatar is still unknown but further investigations are underway.

The sources said interrogators would soon contact Qatari official to ask them for any information they might have in this regard to find out more about the people involved in this terror.

Daily Sabah that is affiliated to the Turkish government released the first report over Altintas' visits to Qatar a couple of day ago but later took it off its website.

Results of preliminary investigations revealed by Turkish media have also showed that the Russian envoy’s killer had fought for Fatah al-Sham Front (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) terrorist group in Aleppo in 2015.

According to Zaman, Turkish police officer Altintas’ psychological background indicates that he murdered a number of Syrian soldiers and that some of his colleagues were also killed.

The investigation also revealed that the Altintas’ actions apparently done with the knowledge of the Turkish leadership ferociously contributed to the militants’ operations in the city.

According to the Turkish media since his involvement in the Syrian conflict, Altintas had lived in a bloody quagmire and desired the act of killing.

“He also used to reiterate his intention to kill without revealing the identity of his target.”

Last week, Altintas asked his commander to let him join the Russian embassy security apparatus and started monitoring the envoy and preparing for his crime, Zaman newspaper pointed out.

“No one could predict that the Russian embassy guard from the Turkish security agencies would be preparing to kill the Russian envoy to Ankara.”

The young Turkish policeman had also provided security for Recep Tayyip Erdogan eight times since the July 15 failed coup bid.

Altintas, a member of the Ankara anti-riot police for two-and-a-half years, had been on duty at eight events attended by Erdogan since July.

At such events he was part of the second wave of Erdogan's security after the personal bodyguard team of the president, wrote Hurriyet's writer Abdulkadir Selvi, known for his contacts in the ruling elite.

Andrey Karlov was shot as he was set to deliver a speech at the opening of a photo exhibition titled ‘Russia in the eyes of Turks’.

Mevlut Mert Altintas pumped nine bullets into Russian ambassador last Monday, before he himself was killed by Turkish police.

Qatar as one of the most important backers of terrorist groups in Syria has announced its support for terrorists many times.

Qatar said late November that it will continue to supply militant groups in Syria with arms even if US President-elect Donald Trump halts US support.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani made the remarks in relation to Trump's recent remarks signaling that he is opposed to US support for anti-Syrian government militant groups.

Thani stressed that Qatar still wants US support as they have always been allies.

"But if they want to change their minds, are we going to change our position?

For us, in Qatar at least, we are not going to change our position," he said, adding that "Our position is based on principles, values and on our assessment of the situation there".

SA