ANKARA, February 27 (RIA Novosti) - A former Chechen militant has been shot dead in Turkey's largest city of Istanbul, national media reported on Friday.

Ali Osayev, who fled to Istanbul six years ago after the second Chechen war, was shot three times in the head near his home in the city. The gunmen are still at large.

According to the Turkish Cihan newspaper, police investigators have not ruled out that the murder of Osayev, 48, was connected to a dispute over financial assistance for Chechen militants that was being collected in Turkey.

Investigators in Istanbul have declined to comment on the ongoing probe into the shooting.

Last year saw two other Chechen militants, Islam Janibekov and Gadji Edilsultanov, murdered in separate incidents in Istanbul, with both deaths also linked to disputes over financial assistance for Chechen separatists.

Chechnya witnessed two brutal separatist wars in the 1990s-early 2000s. Militant attacks remain fairly common in the troubled republic.