Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has filed a criminal complaint against a fugitive figure linked to the 2016 assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Ankara, marking a significant development in the long-running investigation, according to security sources.
The complaint, submitted to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, targets Abdullah Bozkurt, a Sweden-based suspect accused by Turkish authorities of ties to the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ), which orchestrated the defeat coup of July 15, 20216, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 wounded. Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Officials allege Bozkurt played a central role in both directing the assassination and conducting disinformation campaigns against Türkiye and its intelligence institutions.
The move comes nearly a decade after Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov was shot dead in December 2016 by off-duty police officer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş at an art exhibition in Ankara, in an attack that shocked the international community and tested Ankara-Moscow ties.
According to findings cited in the complaint and previous trial files, Bozkurt is accused of influencing and directing Altıntaş through FETÖ-linked networks. Investigators say the gunman was radicalized in an organizational “cell house” in Ankara and was instructed not to surrender after carrying out the assassination.
Authorities further allege that Bozkurt used a foreign-based media platform to publish what they described as “false, distorted and manipulative” content targeting Türkiye and MIT, framing it as part of a broader psychological operation. The complaint calls for the prosecution not only of Bozkurt but also of others involved in producing and disseminating such material, as well as the removal of related content.
Security sources say the assassination was part of a broader plot orchestrated by FETÖ operatives over a two-year period, aimed at undermining Turkish-Russian relations and potentially triggering a wider geopolitical crisis.
Bozkurt, who resides in Stockholm, remains a wanted fugitive. Ankara has repeatedly requested his extradition, but Swedish courts have ruled that the charges do not meet the threshold for extradition under local law. Turkish officials maintain that he is among several senior FETÖ figures operating abroad, particularly in Europe and the United States.
An unknown number of FETÖ members, mostly high-ranking figures, fled Türkiye when the coup attempt was thwarted. Many of the group's members had already left the country before the coup attempt after Turkish prosecutors launched investigations into other crimes of the terrorist group.
While the U.S., which housed FETÖ ringleader Fetullah Gülen until his death in October 2024, is the subject of most extradition requests, several EU countries like Sweden and Germany also harbor senior FETÖ members. Türkiye is looking to extradite hundreds of other so-called senior members of FETÖ from the U.S., and 257 from European Union countries, including 77 from Germany.
