Turkey links Russian diplomat's killing to US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday suggested that the exiled US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen could be involved in the deadly attack on the Russian envoy to Turkey.

Erdogan said that the policeman who shot the Russian ambassador to Ankara was a member of Gulen's "terror organisation". Russian diplomat Andrei Karlov was fatally shot on Monday evening by a 22-year-old gunman in front of onlookers at an art exhibition in Ankara. The assailant was a former policeman and was a member of Ankara's riot police squad.

"He (Altintas) was a member of the FETO terrorist organisation. There is no point in hiding this. From the places he was raised to his connections that's what they point at," President Erdogan said during a news conference.

Turkey has also accused Gulen of attempting to destabilise the country and alleged that the cleric had a hand behind the failed military coup attempted in the nation earlier this year in July. The coup was aimed at toppling the ruling establishment led by Erdogan. However, Gulen has denied any involvement in the attempted coup and his movement FETO also condemned the assassination of the Russian ambassador "in the strongest terms".

Soon after the failed coup in July, the Turkish government had cracked down on Gulen's thousands of followers in the country and arrested them for their alleged involvement in the coup. The government had also removed more than 100,000 suspected supporters from government jobs. Turkey has also labelled Gulen's movement as "the FETO terror organisation".

Ever since the coup, Turkey has been pressuring the US to extradite Gulen so that he can be prosecuted for the attempted coup in the country.

Erdogan told reporters that intelligence agencies in Turkey were probing Atlintas' possible foreign links saying that there were "certain clues" which suggested that he had overseas connections.