MOSCOW, March 6 (RAPSI) – A Russian woman suspected of being in contact with alleged killer of ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov has been arrested in Ankara, CNN Turk reported Monday.

The 33-years old woman, known as Ekaterina B., or Ekaterina Borisovna, has been identified while analyzing telephone conversations of Mevlut Mert Altintas, the suspected assassin of the Russian ambassador, according to CNN Turk.

Reportedly, Ekaterina B., who is suspected of organization of prostitution, communicated on the phone and exchanged WhatsApp messages with Mevlut Mert Altintas in November 2016.

On December 19, the off-duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas opened fire at an art gallery in Ankara when Karlov was giving a speech, according to Turkish officials. The ambassador was mortally wounded. At least three other persons were reportedly injured. The gunman was later killed by police officers in a shootout.

Videos of the assassination taken by journalists give investigators a reason to believe that the gunman’s actions and speech were related to his opinion concerning Russia’s policy in combating international terrorism.

Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case over the murder of Karlov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Karlov had been “despicably killed”. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in turn characterized the murder of Russian ambassador as a terrorist attack aimed at deterioration of relations between the countries after the beginning of their normalization.

Relations between Russia and Turkey became troubled in October 2015 after killing Oleg Peshkov, the pilot of Russian Su-24 bomber downed by the Turkish Air Force in Syria. At that time, President Vladimir Putin described the murder of Russian pilot as “a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists.” In the fall of 2016, Putin and Erdogan negotiated over getting Russia-Turkey relationship back on track.