The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman participated in a sit-in held by the Turkish and Arab media on Friday in front of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in solidarity with Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was interrupted after his consular review a few days ago.

"This is a gangster who tramples on all international treaties, this is a gangster who kidnapped and hid a citizen who entered Turkey officially, and this gangster must be disciplined," Tawakkol Karman said.

"What we want is the release of Jamal Khashoggi," Karman said. "He entered the consulate building and he was supposed to get out safely.”

During the protest, the head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association in Turkey, Turan Kislakci, delivered a speech in Turkish and then the Egyptian poet Abdurrahman Yousef Al-Qaradawi, read in Arabic. They said that the disappearance of the well-known journalist and writer Jamal Khashoggi in the Arab and Muslim world, and in the West, “had big reactions.” 

"After Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, it was no longer possible to obtain any information about him. After this incident, the Turkish-Arab Media Association was, from the very first moment, following the developments of his disappearance with all sensitivity and conveyed it to the whole world," the statement said.

The statement stressed that the association "contacted the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and the Saudi embassy in Ankara demanding clarification from them, but the association did not get conclusive and reassuring answers from the consulate or the embassy. "After the loss of contact with Khashoggi four days ago, we begin today our first solidarity activities and a sit-in in front of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul with journalists and writers, with similar steps being taken for journalists in front of Saudi embassies and consulates in Western countries," the statement said.

"We are very concerned about the consequences of the journalist and writer Jamal Khashoggi disappearance, and we do not know if he is alive or not. The Saudi statements within this framework are not reassuring and regrettable."

The statement said that "Khashoggi, who we believe to be a guest in the building of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, must be released as soon as possible, or to report his whereabouts as soon as possible. If he gets any harm, it is contrary to international law.

The statement called on "all journalists and colleagues in the world who, from the beginning, stood with Khashoggi and demanded his freedom, to participate in the solidarity activities organized by the Turkish-Arab Media Association."