Pompeo meets Erdogan over disappearance of Khashoggi
The US Secretary of State yesterday met Turkish leaders to discuss the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mike Pompeo held separate meetings in Ankara with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, each lasting about 40 minutes. No details were given.
Khashoggi, a critic of his government, was last seen on October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he went to collect documents he needed for his planned marriage.
Mr Cavusoglu said Turkish investigators hoped to enter the Saudi consul’s residence yesterday. Speaking from the airport in Ankara, he said talks with Mr Pompeo were “beneficial and fruitful”.
Mr Pompeo’s brief visit to Turkey followed talks on Tuesday with Saudi King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir in Riyadh.
He said the Saudi leaders denied any knowledge of what took place in their consulate and promised a serious and credible investigation. Turkish police did not search the Saudi consul’s Istanbul residence on Tuesday because Saudi officials were not able to join them.
“In each of those meetings I stressed the importance of them conducting a complete investigation into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. They made a commitment to do that,” Mr Pompeo said.
“They said it would be a thorough, complete and transparent investigation. They indicated they understood that getting that done in a timely, rapid fashion so they could begin to answer important questions.”
Earlier, President Donald Trump gave Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt in Khashoggi’s disappearance, while US legislators pointed the finger at the Saudi leadership and western pressure mounted on Riyadh to provide answers.
“They made no exceptions to who they would hold accountable,” Mr Pompeo said of King Salman and Prince Mohammed. “They were very clear. They understand the importance of this issue and they are determined to get to the bottom of it.
Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund said yesterday that its managing director, Christine Lagarde, was deferring her trip to the Middle East.
The foreign ministers from the G7 group of nations said they were “very troubled” by Khashoggi’s disappearance and called for those responsible to be held to account.
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK said they looked forward to a “thorough, credible, transparent, and prompt investigation”.