Turkey probes Russian involvement in Chechen murders - report

Chechen commander Ali Osaev's murder in front of his house in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul on Friday night has alarmed the Turkish intelligence service, the daily said.   Â

 

Osaev was very close to Dukka Umarov who was called as "head of state"  by Chechen insurgents, Sabah daily said.

 

Both MIT and police think his murder may be related with the earlier killings of two other Chechen leaders.

 

Chechen Colonel Gazi Edilsultanov was shot dead in Istanbul's Basaksehir district last September while commander Islam Canibekov was killed in the Umraniye district last December.

 

MIT, which believes the three were killed by Russians, was briefed on Saturday by a newly formed police investigation unit about the killings of the Chechens, Vatan said.

 

All three victims were killed with MSP Groza pistol in front of their houses, developed for KGB, Sabah reported.

 

Federal Security Service (FSB), main successor to the Soviet KGB, has been carrying out operations against the leaders of Chechen resistance who live abroad.