Daily Sabah: Saudi Arabia secretly sold its consulate in Istanbul

Turkish media have reported that Saudi Arabia has secretly sold its consulate building in Istanbul after the murder of Saudi writer and journalist Jamal Khashoggi about a year ago.

Saudi Arabia will move the consulate to a new location as Istanbul’s public prosecution prepares to issue an indictment ahead of the first anniversary of Khashoggi’s death on October 2, the Turkish daily Sabah Newspaper in its English-language version said on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the Saudi Foreign Ministry has decided to sell the consulate building in Istanbul, which has already been done.

The newspaper said that the recording of votes from inside the building during the implementation of Khashoggi’s crime in all its details, prompted the Saudi authorities to first send a technical team to survey the eavesdropping devices in the consulate building, where the technical team submitted a report after his return, recommend leaving the consulate building, which prompted the Saudi Foreign Ministry To make a decision to change the consulate building.

The newspaper quoted legal experts as saying that the consulate building is still seen as the location of the crime, and that if the Saudi consulate is moved elsewhere, the Istanbul Public Prosecution may resort to sealing the building with red wax, in order to conduct detailed investigations to collect further evidence.