Assassin of Russia's Turkey Envoy 'Buried in Unmarked Grave'

A Turkish policeman who murdered the Russian ambassador to Ankara in December and was then shot dead by security forces has been buried in an unmarked grave, state media said Monday.

The 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas' family declined to claim his body and it was buried in an unmarked grave last week in Ankara by a forensic team, Anadolu Agency said. 

When the Russian ambassador to Ankara Andrei Karlov was giving a speech to inaugurate a photo exhibition of Russian landscapes, Altintas was lurking behind, away from the other guests, listening attentively.

Altintas then produced a gun and fired four shots into his back and another five when Karlov fell to the ground.

The well-shaved and besuited Altintas shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and "Don't forget Aleppo" as he waved his gun around at the cultural center. 

No militant or extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack. 

The government says he was linked to the group of the U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen blamed for the July 15 failed coup but this assertion has not been backed by Russia. 

The street on which the Russian embassy is located in Ankara was renamed Andrei Karlov Street in the late ambassador's honor in a ceremony on January 10.

Described as a "pleasant" and "cheerful" boy by his teacher, Altintas hailed from the quiet town of Soke in Aydin province in western Turkey where he went to school.

He attended a special school for training future policemen and then joined the Ankara anti-riot police -- the Cevik Kuvvet in Turkish -- in 2014.

According to the Hurriyet daily, he had provided protection for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan eight times since summer last year.