Pompeo heads to Turkey after meeting Saudi leaders
ankara — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will hold talks in Turkey on Wednesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said, after a visit to Riyadh where the top American diplomat was discussing the case of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Pompeo will meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss bilateral and regional issues including Syria, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement did not refer to the disappearance of Khashoggi after his visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to receive documents ahead of his wedding.
Before his visit was confirmed, Cavusoglu earlier said Pompeo would inform Turkey about his meetings in Riyadh as the US and Saudi Arabia seek a way out of the crisis. Pompeo on Tuesday met the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Turkish investigators searched the consulate overnight for eight hours to find out what happened to Khashoggi.
A Turkish diplomatic source said police would search the residence of the Saudi consul in Istanbul as part of their probe but it was not known when it would take place.
Ahead of the search, Saudi consul general Mohammed Al Otaibi left Istanbul and was on a plane bound for Riyadh, according to Turkish state media.
Cavusoglu also said the prosecutor conducting an investigation could ask for statements from anyone deemed relevant to the probe.
Earlier, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir greeted Pompeo when he landed in Riyadh. Soon after, Pompeo arrived at a royal palace, where he thanked King Salman “for accepting my visit on behalf of President (Donald) Trump” before the two went into a closeddoor meeting.
Pompeo then met a smiling Prince Mohammed. “We are strong and old allies,” the prince told Pompeo. “We face our challenges together — the past, the day of, tomorrow.”
Trump said after talking with King Salman that the slaying could have been carried out by “rogue killers.”
“The king firmly denied any knowledge of it,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
“It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. I mean, who knows? We’re going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon, but his was a flat denial.”