Sources reported the murder of Abakar Abakarov

Abakar Abakarov, whom Russian investigators believe to be the organizer of the unrest at Makhachkala airport, has been killed in Turkey, according to his acquaintances. There is no official confirmation of this information yet.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," Dagestan native Abakar Abakarov, who was named as the probable administrator of the "Utro Dagestan" Telegram channel, was placed on the wanted list in Russia in November 2023. Investigators named Abakarov as one of three organizers of the mass unrest at Makhachkala airport, along with politician Ilya Ponomarevtsy (listed as a foreign agent by the Russian Ministry of Justice) and preacher Israil Akhmednabiyev (Abu Umar Sasitlinsky). In July, the cases of all three were submitted to the Supreme Court of Dagestan for trial in absentia.

Reports that Abakar Abakarov was found dead in Turkey spread on social media on the evening of October 17. "His friends and family assume he was murdered. There is no official information about this from official structures in Turkey, where he recently resided, or from Russian security agencies," writes the Dagestani publication "Chernovik."

The authors of the reports about Abakarov's death cite Turkish media, which reported the circumstances of the murder of an unidentified man in Istanbul. The crime was committed in a villa rented out daily on October 6th. A day later, on October 7th, two men entered the house, one of whom subsequently left the villa with two bags. The man's body, covered in blood, was later discovered by a cleaning lady. Since police found no identification on him, it is presumed that the victim was a foreigner.

Two of Abakar Abakarov's close acquaintances also stated during a joint YouTube broadcast that he had killed him under the circumstances described in Turkey. Blogger Gasan Gadzhiev shared this news in a conversation with his colleague and associate Ali Charinsky (Arslan Mirzaev), noting that he had received information about Abakarov's death today from "various sources," and although there is no definitive confirmation of this information, he considers the report credible.

According to Gadzhiev, Abakarov had disappeared "more than a week ago" and that acquaintances had been searching for him. "He planned to broadcast, but it never happened, and the people who communicated with him lost contact," the blogger explained the circumstances of Abakarov's disappearance. He also added that Turkish TV reports did not name the deceased or show his body, but that someone close to Abakarov is expected to "collect the body" on October 18.

Both Gadzhiev and Mirzayev had maintained close ties with Abakarov for many years, despite political differences between them. Abakarov himself confirmed this in a video posted on YouTube about a year and a half ago.