Turkey to search Saudi consulate over journalist’s disappearance

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said that the investigation into Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a week ago, is “continuing intensively”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a written statement that although the Vienna convention states that consulate buildings have immunity, they can be searched by host country authorities with the consent of the mission chief.

“The consulate building will be searched in the framework of the investigation,” the statement said.

The UN human rights office on Tuesday voiced deep concern at the “apparent enforced disappearance” and possible murder of Khashoggi a week ago and urged the two countries to investigate.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday asked Riyadh to prove its claim that Khashoggi had left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, while Washington urged Saudi Arabia to support an investigation into his disappearance.

“Yes, this is of serious concern, the apparent enforced disappearance of Mr Khashoggi from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“If reports of his death and the extraordinary circumstances leading up to it are confirmed, this is truly shocking,” UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a Geneva news briefing.

Khashoggi was previously a prominent newspaper editor in Saudi Arabia and an adviser to a former head of intelligence.

His disappearance has sparked global concern, particularly after Turkish sources said over the weekend that authorities believed he had been killed inside the consulate.

“We call for cooperation between Turkey and Saudi Arabia to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the circumstances of Khashoggi’s disappearance and to make the findings public.

“The two countries have such an obligation under both criminal law and international human rights law,” Shamdasani said.