A man who died in a point-blank shooting on the terrace of a hotel in Rijswijk on Thursday is a notorious Turkish murder suspect, according to the Telegraaf.

Turkish media and other sources have named him as Cenil Örnal, who had claimed to have compromising tapes involving senior politicians in the AKP, the party of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The paper quoted a Turkish journalist who said the man was “silenced” following “serious threats from several sides”.

Witnesses said the man was approached by a man dressed in black who shot him at point-blank range while an accomplice waited nearby.

According to sources the Telegraaf spoke to, the man had allegedly spoken to public prosecution officials and given them the names of several prominent Turks.

Police, who have so far not confirmed the victim’s identity, have put a team of 20 detectives on the case, the paper said.

Önal is thought to have orchestrated the murder of gambling boss Halil Falyali, who was murdered at his home on Cyprus in 2022. Falyali was himself wanted in the United States for international money laundering and drug smuggling.

In 2023, he was arrested in the Netherlands at the request of the Turkish authorities and held in a prison in Alphen aan den Rijn. While there he was interviewed by website Follow the Money, claiming Turkish government was targeting him because he knew about alleged bribes paid to government officials by Falyali.

In another recent interview, Önal claimed to have tapes with compromising images of senior government politicians, businessmen, and other prominent members of Turkish society.

It is not clear when Önal was released from prison.