Turkish suspect confesses to Chechen leader’s murder

Çetin Aydın ISTANBUL

The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria’s honorary consul in Ankara, Medet Ünlü, 53, was killed by armed assailants at the honorary consulate in Ankara on May 22, 2013.

The Turkish man who is suspected of killing a Chechen leader in Turkey last year has been detained and confessed to the murder, claiming that “pro-Russian Chechens” had made him shoot the victim.

The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria’s honorary consul in Ankara, Medet Ünlü, 53, was killed by armed assailants at the honorary consulate in Ankara on May 22, 2013.

After an eight month investigation, police detained 47-year-old Murat Aluç, the suspected hitman, on Oct. 12 in the northwestern province of Sakarya after a brief car chase. Five others who were accompanying Aluç were also arrested. Ömer Peltek, 24, who allegedly drove Aluç to the crime scene, remains on the run.

Aluç, who was already on trial for alleged involvement in organized crime, confessed to the murder during his first interrogation, Hürriyet has learned.

“They promised me a life in Ukraine that I can’t even imagine,” he reportedly told police, referring to pro-Russian Chechens in Turkey who commissioned him to target Ünlü, because Ünlü was sending Turkish donations to opposition members in Chechnya.

Ünlü was against Russian military operations in Chechnya and had been working as an activist to stop Chechens from going to fight in Syria as jihadists. His wife had claimed in a petition in July that Ünlü had been under the surveillance of Turkish intelligence when he was killed and “suffered oppression” from some circles, particularly pointing to Ramzan Kadirov, the current leader of Chechnya.

The victim’s family has claimed that Aluç was hired by a Russian citizen who returned to Russia two days after the murder.