Jeff Bezos and Jamal Khashoggi's fiance come together to honor slain journalist
Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos this week honored the memory of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a ceremony near Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul marking one year since the former Post columnist's death.
The memorial began Wednesday just after 1:14 p.m. -- the time that Khashoggi walked into the Saudi Arabian consulate to collect documents required for him to marry his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting for him outside. He never walked out.
Khashoggi, a Saudi national who was living in Virginia at the time of his death, was a frequent and pointed critic of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman specifically, as well as the Saudi government generally.
Bezos addressed Cengiz who was also present at the ceremony.
Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and Jeff Bezos hug during an event marking the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, on Oct. 2, 2019. ( Bulent Kil
"No one should ever have to endure what you did . . . Right here where you are, you paced that street for hours, pacing and waiting. And he never came out. It is unimaginable, and you need to know that you are in our hearts. We are here and you are not alone," Bezos said.
After he was finished speaking, Bezos and Cengiz then hugged each other tightly.
Cengiz also spoke at the event, discussing her feelings for the slain writer and remembering his legacy -- telling the crowd that Khashoggi was her "best friend" and the "love of my life."
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The CIA and Turkish officials both determined that the order to kill the journalist came at the directive of bin Salman, despite denials from Saudi officials, according to Fox News.
Bin Salman recently told PBS during a documentary that while he takes "all the responsibility" for Khashoggi's death because "it happened under my watch," he did not know about the specific plot to murder him.
During the ceremony to honor Khashoggi, activists called for a United Nations-led investigation into the murder and action to ensure that the perpetrators of the killing don’t go unpunished.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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