Turkey: CHP demands explanation on Saudi journalist

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - A senior lawmaker of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said on Monday that Riyadh's statements on the case of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi were "inadequate".

"We do not hear that Saudi Arabia made an adequate explanation on this issue," Ozturk Yilmaz told a news conference in the capital Ankara.

Yilmaz said, "Our officials [in the Turkish government] should investigate the issue and share it with the public."

He said if allegations of the Saudi journalist's murder are true, it is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and those who violate it should leave Turkey.

Jamal Khashoggi, journalist and regular columnist for the Washington Post, has been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Turkish police investigating the case had said in a statement Saturday that 15 Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and entered the consulate while Khashoggi was inside.

The Turkish police in Istanbul has been keeping an eye on the comings and goings at the Saudi consulate since the time -- according to the journalist's fiancee -- Khashoggi entered the building.

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul initiated an investigation on the day of the incident while the consulate also said on Twitter that it was working in coordination with Turkish authorities.