Turkey says Saudi Arabia not cooperating in probe of missing journalist Khashoggi

Turkey says Saudi Arabia not cooperating in probe of missing journalist Khashoggi
Ankara had said that a search of the consulate had been agreed but this has yet to materialise amid reports the two sides are at odds over conditions of entry.
2 min read
13 October, 2018
Jamal Khashoggi disappeared during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. [AFP]

Turkey's foreign minister on Saturday accused Saudi Arabia of failing to cooperate in the probe into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul, calling on Riyadh to grant access to Turkish investigators.

"We still have not seen cooperation in order to ensure a smooth investigation and bring everything to light. We want to see this," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by state-run Anadolu news agency.

Ankara had said that a search of the consulate had been agreed but this has yet to materialise amid reports the two sides are at odds over the conditions of entry into what is Saudi sovereign territory.

Speaking during an official visit to London, Cavusoglu said that Riyadh must let Turkish "prosecutors and experts enter the consulate" to carry out their investigation.

"Where did he go missing? There, at the consulate," the Turkish foreign minister said, adding that "talks are continuing" with Saudi officials in a bid to resolve the impasse. 

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who had been living in self-imposed exile in the US since late 2017, vanished on 2 October after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get paperwork for his upcoming wedding.

Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Saudi Arabia has strongly denied this but has failed to explain the journalist's fate after entering its consulate building.

The Washington Post reported late on Thursday that Turkish investigators were in possession of audio and video recordings proving Khashoggi was killed in the consulate.

"The voice recording from inside the embassy lays out what happened to Jamal after he entered," a source told the US newspaper.

"You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic... You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered."

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