Ankara Urges Riyadh to Cooperate on Khashoggi, Allow Access to Consulate
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Saudi Arabia must cooperate with the investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and let Turkish officials enter its Istanbul consulate, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
Cavusoglu spoke to reporters during a visit to London, after a delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey for a joint investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance on Oct. 2.
“We have not yet seen cooperation on this subject and we want to see it,” Cavusoglu said Saturday in the comments, which were broadcast on Turkish television, Reuters reported.
Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on Saturday that Turkey’s investigation into Khashoggi’s fate after he entered the Saudi consulate revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch purportedly indicating he was tortured and killed. Khashoggi has been a prominent critic of Riyadh and a US resident who has written columns for the Washington Post.
Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials say he left shortly afterwards but Turkish officials and his fiancee, who was waiting outside, said he never came out.
Turkish sources have said the initial assessment of the police was that Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government, had been deliberately killed inside the consulate. Riyadh has dismissed the claims.