Turkey suggests UN investigative mission for Khashoggi murder

Serkan Demirtaş - GENEVA

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has suggested a United Nations-led investigative mission on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a death squad specifically deployed to Istanbul by high-level Saudi officials.

A U.N.-led investigation requires a resolution by the Security Council but this seems to be unlikely, the minister told a group of journalists on his return from Geneva late Dec. 18.

“A second option is setting up a fact-finding mission at the U.N. This does not require a U.N. Security Council decision. It could be started by either the secretary-general or Human Rights Committee. Some countries appeal to us for a joint application to the U.N. Talks to this end continue in New York at the level of permanent representatives.”

The minister cited a growing disappointment in the international community over the lack of cooperation by the Saudi authorities in further digging out the investigation and in identifying who gave the order of the murder.

Upon questions whether Saudi efforts to prolong the process would eventually lead to the closure of the case, Çavuşoğlu said: “There is now a blockage, because Saudi Arabia has not even disclosed where the body is. They have not identified the local collaborator. We continue our own work in line with the evidence we have but I can’t speak on behalf of our prosecutor. But what I can say is that the case can hardly be closed, because there are so many countries, international bodies, human rights associations and media following this case.”