Turkish police believe Saudis killed journalist in consulate
Reporter vanished after appointment with officials
Turkish police believe prominent Saudi journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul after he went missing on Tuesday, according to an unnamed government official, but Riyadh quickly denied the claim.
The accusation by Turkish authorities comes amid mounting concern over the Washington Post contributor, who vanished after an appointment with Saudi officials.
“Based on their initial findings, the police believe that the journalist was killed by a team especially sent to Istanbul and who left the same day,” the government source said.
Police had earlier confirmed that around 15 Saudis, including officials, arrived in Istanbul on two flights on Tuesday and were at the consulate at the same time as Khashoggi.
The journalist went to the building on an administrative errand but “did not come back out,” police told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
On the back of the preliminary investigation, Ankara announced Saturday it had opened an official probe into his disappearance.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency, quoting an unnamed official at the Istanbul consulate, denied the reports of Khashoggi’s murder.
“The official strongly denounced these baseless allegations,” the agency wrote, adding that a team of Saudi investigators were in Turkey working with local authorities.
Reacting to news of the alleged murder, the journalist’s Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said on Twitter she was “waiting for an official confirmation from the Turkish government to believe it.”
In his columns, Khashoggi has been critical of some policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh’s intervention in the war in Yemen.
The former government adviser, who turns 60 on October 13, has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since last year to avoid possible arrest.
According to his fiancee, Khashoggi had visited the consulate to receive an official document for their marriage.
Yasin Aktay, of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who was close to the journalist, said Khashoggi had made an appointment in advance with the consulate and called to check if the documents were ready.
“His friends had warned him ‘don’t go there, it is not safe’ but he said they could not do anything to him in Turkey,” said Atkay, adding that he still hoped the allegations of his friend’s death were untrue.
Prince Mohammed said in an interview with Bloomberg published Friday that the journalist had left the consulate and Turkish authorities could search the building, which is Saudi sovereign territory.