Police find abandoned Saudi consulate car in Istanbul parking lot

Vehicle, bearing diplomatic number plates belonging to the Saudi consulate, found in Istanbul's Sultangazi district as part of probe into killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. CCTV footage from the lot shows involvement of a second vehicle.

Istanbul police found the diplomatic car that was seen outside the Saudi consulate the day Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the city's Sultangazi district.
TRTWorld

Istanbul police found the diplomatic car that was seen outside the Saudi consulate the day Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the city's Sultangazi district.

Turkish police on Monday found a diplomatic vehicle which belongs to the Saudi Consulate in a parking lot as part of the probe into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to security sources.

Amid Turkey's efforts to investigate the Khashoggi case, Istanbul police found the diplomatic car in the city's Sultangazi district.

Police asked for the permission of the chief public prosecutor's office and the consulate general of Saudi Arabia to search the vehicle.

The vehicle was registered in the name of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and was bought in 2011, according to documents obtained by TRT World.

TRTWorld

Screenshot shows copy of the registration book of the vehicle bearing Saudi diplomatic number plates and found abandoned in a parking lot in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, TRT World also obtained exclusive CCTV footage of a suspect leaving the vehicle in the parking lot.

Loading...

The footage showed an unidentified man walking away from the vehicle.

TRTWorld

Screenshot of CCTV footage from a parking lot in Istanbul shows a suspect abandoning a vehicle belonging to the Saudi consulate.

TRT World obtained another exclusive footage from the parking lot, where the abandoned Saudi consulate Mercedes car was found, that shows a man approach the vehicle in a BMW car.

Loading...

The footage the shows the trunk of both the cars open and the man transfer a package from the already-parked Mercedes into the BMW before driving away on October 18.

The second vehicle also bore diplomatic number plates.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

After days of denying knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi died during a fight inside the consulate.

On the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.

A joint Turkish-Saudi team completed an investigation into the case on Thursday after searching the residence of the consul general as well as the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will make a statement on Khashoggi’s killing on Tuesday during his party's group meeting at the parliament.

Route 6