Missing Russian diplomat alarms security forces in Ankara

Fevzi Kızılkoyun - ANKARA

A Russian diplomat on duty at the Russian Embassy to Ankara, was missing for six hours, alarming security forces on Jan. 17.

Russian diplomat Alex Anelkov left his house in the afternoon hours of Jan. 17. Family members and colleagues at the embassy panicked when they were unable to reach him.

Security forces were informed at 7:30 p.m. as police and gendarmerie crews started search efforts to find him.

Officials detected signals from his mobile phone around Ankara’s Elmadağ district.

Following the signals, the search team concentrated their efforts on the district. Rescue dogs also participated in the search.

Security forces initially found the diplomat’s vehicle stuck in mud in a ridgeway in a village in Elmadağ at 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 18.

Security forces then found Anelkov in Elmadağ’s Evciler village.

The diplomat was unable to call anyone because his cell phone’s battery was reportedly empty. So, he left his vehicle and reached the Evciler village by foot.

Gendarmerie forces delivered Anelkov to his home and rescued his vehicle from the mud.

Former Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov died after being shot multiple times at an art exhibition in Ankara on Dec. 19, 2016.

He was delivering a speech when the assailant, 22-year-old Turkish policeman Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, opened fire.

On Jan. 12, a former employee of the Information Technology and Communications Institution (BTK) was arrested, said a security official who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The assassination came at a time when Turkish-Russian relations had newly improved after a diplomatic crisis.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the shooting as a “provocation” designed to undermine bilateral ties.