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Photo exhibition coordinator detained in connection to Russian ambassador’s murder

This picture taken on December 19, 2016 shows Andrey Karlov (L), the Russian ambassador to Ankara, lying on the floor after being shot by a gunman (R) during an attack during a public event in Ankara. A gunman crying "Aleppo" and "revenge" shot Karlov while he was visiting an art exhibition in Ankara on December 19, witnesses and media reports said. The Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency said the gunman had been "neutralised" in a police operation, without giving further details. / AFP PHOTO / STRINGER

The coordinator of a photo exhibition at an art gallery in Ankara where Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was killed in December has been detained as part of an investigation into the murder, the Hürriyet daily reported on Wednesday.

A police officer from the Ankara Police Department was also detained in the same investigation, Hürriyet reported.

Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, a 22-year-old police officer, shot Karlov to death while the ambassador was giving a speech at the art gallery on Dec. 19.

The coordinator of the photo exhibition, identified as T.Ö., told Turkish media outlets in a statement following the attack that Altıntaş was seen in the art gallery at another photo exhibit three days before the murder.

The coordinator, who was in the hall at the time of the attack, said everyone thought the attacker was the ambassador’s bodyguard when he stood at his back.

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