Turkey takes statements of 38 Saudi Consulate employees

Turkish investigators have recorded statements of 38 employees of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, as part of a probe into killing of journalist Kamal Khashoggi, judicial sources said today.

Since 19 October, the investigators have recorded statements of 38 consulate employees as “witnesses”, with five more staffers yet to give their statements, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

A columnist for the Washington Post, Khashoggi was last seen on 2 October when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

According to the sources, the employees were asked whether anything out of the ordinary had occurred at the consulate on the day of the journalist’s disappearance and if they had seen the entry of Khashoggi or any of the 15-person group from Saudi Arabia who might be responsible for the journalist’s killing.

After days of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials last week admitted that the journalist had been killed inside the consulate.

Read: Saudi Arabia in ‘crisis’ following Khashoggi’s killing, says minister