Jamal Khashoggi a well-known Saudi journalist went into his country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October to obtain a marriage document but never came out. Turkish officials’ fears the writer had been was ‘tortured and cut to pieces’ inside the building.
Mr Khashoggi was last seen visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a major city in Turkey. A week after he vanished security camera footage was removed from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and Turkish staff were abruptly told to take a holiday on the day the dissident journalist disappeared.
Turkish authorities are now searching for a black van seen on CCTV being ‘loaded with boxes’, which they believe was used to transport Khashoggi’s remains from the consulate.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday urged the Saudis to back up their claim that Khashoggi left the consulate.
“Now when this person enters, whose duty is it to prove that he left or not? It is [the duty] of the consulate officials,” Erdogan said during a visit to Hungary. “Don’t you have cameras and other things? Why don’t you prove it, you have to prove it.”
President Donald Trump and Britain, France and the EU have also called for an urgent, credible investigation.
Turkey summoned the Saudi ambassador on Sunday to request the kingdom’s “full cooperation” in the investigation, a Foreign Ministry official said.
That Saudi Arabia would allow foreigners to enter a consulate and search it shows the growing international pressure the kingdom faces over the disappearance of 59 year old Khashoggi.
The U.N. human rights office said Khashoggi’s disappearance is “of serious concern.” Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva that it would be “truly shocking” if reports of his death are confirmed.
>Juthy Saha
