A former BBC journalist was mysteriously found dead in a Turkish airport bathroom, immediately sparking speculation that the journalism advocate based in Iraq was murdered.
Jacky Sutton (above), 50, was flying from London to Iraq late Saturday night when a local state-run report claims she took her own life after missing a connecting flight at Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul.
According to an unsourced report by Turkey's Anadolu Agency, Sutton was distraught over not having enough money to buy a new ticket home.
Turkey's private Dogan news agency, also not citing a source, said she hanged herself with shoelaces from the hook of a bathroom door.
Her body was reportedly discovered by three Russian tourists who alerted police early Sunday morning.
At the time of her death Sutton was serving as acting Iraq director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), an organization which promotes journalism in conflict zones, and was returning to her base in Irbil, Iraq, IWPR said.
She was appointed in June, the organization said, after the car-bombing death of their previous country director in Iraq.
"The circumstances of her death are unclear and we are trying to establish the facts," IWPR said.
In a recently released statement, she was described by them as being "full of plans for innovative new work, including projects to counter violent extremism that threatens a country to which she was so committed."
Charlie Winter, a researcher on jihadism at think tank Quilliam Foundation, said he met with her only last week to discuss projects she was working on and she appeared energized and excited while discussing his work on Islamic State propaganda.
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