News / Turkey

Khashoggi’s body possibly burnt in oven at Saudi consul-general's residency: Turkey

Friday, 15 February 2019 7:54 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 15 February 2019 11:06 AM ]

People cross the street near a protest sign reading "Khashoggi way" across the street from the White House in Washington, DC, on December 23, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish police have discovered a tandoori oven at the Saudi consul-general's residency in Istanbul, suggesting that the body of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been burnt.

A police statement said Turkish police had found two wells and an oven inside the residency.

“According to experts, the oven can heat up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, destroying any biological tissue and leaving no possibility to detect any DNA traces,” it said.

Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, disappeared after he entered the Saudi diplomatic mission in the Istanbul in October but never came out.

The prominent journalist had told his fiancée Hatice Cengiz waiting outside the building to call a top aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in case he did not emerge from the premises.

After weeks of denials of any involvement, the Riyadh regime eventually acknowledged the “premeditated” murder, yet many questions including the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body went unanswered.

PressTV-Khashoggi body parts transported in suitcases: Report

The pro-government newspaper Sabah reported that the suitcases were then taken to the Saudi consul’s residence.

In October, the Middle East Eye cited Turkish investigators as saying that the murder took seven minutes and that Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy, the head of forensic pathologist and a member of a Saudi hit squad, began to cut the journalist’s body while he was alive.

According to new findings, Turkish police have realized that the Saudi hit team ordered 32 kilograms of raw meat from a restaurant in the neighborhood.

That raised new questions about the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body which was previously considered to have been destroyed in acid or taken to Saudi Arabia.

"One cannot help but ask these questions. Was cooking up meat in the tandoori oven part of their premeditated plans? Of course these questions will be answered one day. The investigations aren’t completed yet," the report said.

The report added that 60 police officers and 100 intelligence agents were assigned to conduct a probe into the murder of the Saudi journalist.

It also said 224 people contacted Turkish officials to provide information on Khashoggi’s disappearance and killing.

Although Istanbul and Riyadh agreed to conduct an investigation into the murder, the joint inquiry has made little progress, with the Turkish authorities considering their Saudi counterparts uncooperative.

Eleven Saudis suspected of being an accessory to the murder are on trial in Riyadh and five others face capital punishment.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the order to kill Khashoogi came from the "highest levels" of Saudi officials.