Slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was remembered on Wednesday with a memorial held in Istanbul on the first anniversary of his killing. Khashoggi’s friends, human rights activists, his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz, as well as local and international media members, gathered in front of the Saudi Consulate building in Levent district, to commemorate Khashoggi.
CEREMONY STARTED AT THE EXACT TIME WHEN KHASHOGGI ENTERED CONSULATE
A moment of silence was observed for the slain journalist before the commemoration ceremony started.
The ceremony began at 1.14 p.m. local time (1014GMT), the exact time when Khashoggi had entered his country’s diplomatic mission last year to acquire documents for his planned marriage with fiancee Hatice Cengiz.
Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post newspaper, for which Khashoggi had written columns, Turan Kislakci, the head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, and Ayman Nour, a former member of Egyptian parliament and founder of the liberal el-Ghad Party, also attended the event.
In a very short speech, Bezos dubbed the murder “unimaginable”, saying, “You [Hatice Cengiz] need to know you are in our hearts. We are here and you are not alone.”