Turkey and UN discuss probe

Turkey is in talks over a possible UN investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Turkish foreign minister says.

“We have discussed with the UN secretary-general and our counterparts and will continue to discuss” a possible probe, Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a media conference in Ankara.

The minister said there had been requests from the international body for an investigation, while his counterparts during the recent Group of 20 summit in Argentina expressed “the will to make a joint application” to the UN.

Cavusoglu said there has to be a formal request, which then has to be approved by the UN Security Council before any UN investigation could begin.

Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post residing in the US, was murdered after a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. The 59year-old former Saudi insider was strangled before his body was cut up by a team of 15 Saudis sent to Istanbul for the killing, Turkish officials say.

There has been speculation that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the hit, but Riyadh has absolved the de facto leader of any blame.

A Turkish court last week issued arrest warrants for two Saudi men close to the prince, but Riyadh rejected demands to extradite the suspects. Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani were described in Turkish court documents as being “among the planners” of the murder.

“Why don’t you want these people to be tried in Turkey? I wonder, are you scared that it would be revealed who gave the order for the murder?”, the Turkish minister said.