‘Crime Scene Investigation’ for Khashoggi

* Photograph: Emrah Yorulmaz – İstanbul / AA

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

It has been 16 days since the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, was reported missing. The investigation that has been launched by the authorities in Turkey has still been continuing.

As part of the investigation conducted by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, a second examination was carried out yesterday (October 17) at the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in the district of Levent in İstanbul, where Khashoggi was last seen.

CLICK - Last Image of Jamal Khashoggi Published

The residence of the Consul General, which previously could not be searched, was also opened to the police for examination. The crime scene investigation teams collected samples in the residence.

In a statement for the press released by the İstanbul Security Directorate, it has been stated, "The photographs of a dead body, which is claimed to belong to Jamal Khashoggi on social media, are not his. They are the photographs that were previously published by the ISIS."

"We cannot make a statement without a certain result"

Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül also spoke to the state-run Anadolu Agency this morning (October 18) about Jamal Khashoggi.

Emphasizing that the investigation has been conducted not by the Ministry of Justice, but by the Prosecutor's Office, Gül said,

"It is our judicial authorities that have been investigating the incident. It is the judicial authorities that have been collecting and evaluating the evidence. Regarding the allegations and articles about this concrete incident... It is not possible for us to say, 'This or that happened', without a certain result."

What happened?

The whereabouts of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been a columnist at Washington Post newspaper and a citizen of Saudi Arabia, has not been known since October 2, 2018 at 1 a.m., when he was last seen while entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in İstanbul.

Reuters news agency and journalists from Turkey as well as the Chair of Turkish-Arabic Media Association Turan Kışlakçı claimed that Khashoggi was killed and his body was taken out of the consulate.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hami Aksoy announced that the officials in the General Consulate of Saudi Arabia accepted the request of Turkey to make an investigation at the consulate.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office also assigned a deputy chief prosecutor and a chief public prosecutor to conduct the judicial processes in the investigation that has been launched by Turkey after the journalist, who has allegedly been killed, was reported to be missing. (AS/SD)