Four years after the assassination of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov in Turkey's capital Ankara, Turkish courts finally brought down verdicts. Better late than never.
According to Turkish justice, the assassination of the Russian ambassador was planned and committed by the followers of Fethullah Gulen, one of the main ideological opponents of the Turkish president.
Gulen made a statement two days after the killing of the Russian diplomat. Despite the words from Gulen himself, who condemned the killing, the Turkish authorities broadcast the theses that were beneficial to them.
It is not surprising that law enforcement agencies preferred to turn a blind eye to the connection between the actual assassin - Mevlut Altyntash - and radical terrorist groups, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, a terrorist organisation that is banned on the territory of the Russian Federation).