ANKARA — The Turkish authorities have failed to locate the Saudi woman who went missing a few days ago. Her husband, in an audio recording posted on the social media, slammed the Turkish police for their inability to trace the woman and apprehend the abductors. Meanwhile, the Turkish authorities claimed that they are confident that they will arrest the kidnappers and return the woman to her relatives within 48 hours. The woman, known as Abeer, suddenly disappeared while she was walking next to a hotel in the Asian part of Istanbul, where she was staying with her family. The woman arrived in Istanbul with her husband and children for tourism purposes. Security surveillance cameras showed a person, carrying a small bottle, sprayed a substance on the face of the Saudi tourist, who lost consciousness, before taking her with him until she disappeared from view. The Turkish authorities, however, continue to remain mum over Abeer's disappearance. Some tourists in Istanbul told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the Turkish claim that what happened to the Saudi woman was a disappearance, not kidnapping, does not make any sense. Saudi Arabia's embassy in Ankara is following up the incident with the Turkish authorities diligently. It is noteworthy that the embassy had issued a warning last week to its citizens after unidentified gunmen shot at and robbed a group of Saudi nationals in Istanbul. These incidents happened amid reports that around 165 Saudi passports have been stolen in three locations in Turkey over the past four months. A jump in the number of crimes in Turkey has led to a huge drop in the inflow of Saudi tourists by 33.2 percent since the beginning of 2019, according to Turkish figures. This subsequently affected the Turkish real estate market in a significant manner.
