Erdogan ‘closely following’ case of missing journalist
THE Turkish president has said that he hopes for a positive resolution over Jamal Khashoggi, the missing Saudi journalist whom officials had claimed was murdered and cut into pieces in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
Yesterday, Recip Tayyip Mr Erdoğan told reporters that he was personally following Khashoggi’s case, but he would await the results of the prosecutor’s investigation. “I am following the (issue) and we will inform the world whatever the outcome” of the official inquiry, the president said. “We hope to have results very quickly,” he added. “I am waiting, with high hopes.”
He said authorities were examining camera footage and airport records as part of their investigation.
Before the press conference, Yasin Aktay, one of Mr Erdoğan’s advisers, said he believed Khashoggi had been killed, telling Reuters that a team of 15 Saudis who travelled to Turkey on the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance were “most certainly involved”.
Other unnamed Turkish government sources had previously echoed these remarks, with some saying that Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, had been tortured and his body dismembered, then removed from the consulate in diplomatic boxes. None spoke on the record or provided evidence.
On Oct 2 at around 1pm local time, Khashoggi, 59, and Hatice Cengiz, his Turkish fiancée, arrived at the consulate, a heavily guarded six-storey building in Istanbul’s Levent district.
Khashoggi, a well-known dissident in Saudi Arabia, had lived in exile since last year after criticising Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reform programme. However, Khashoggi needed routine paperwork in order to marry Ms Cengiz, so decided to risk visiting the consulate. Concerned that he might be detained, he left his phone with his fiancée. She waited as he walked through its metal gates and continued to wait for several hours, until the consulate closed. He never came out.
Turkish authorities said they believed he remained inside the compound. But Saudi authorities said he had disappeared after leaving the consulate. On Wednesday, the Crown Prince denied knowing the whereabouts of Khashoggi. “My understanding is he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour,” he told Bloomberg. “I’m not sure. We are investigating this.” He also invited Turkish authorities to search the building.
The Washington Post published an editorial asking the crown prince to do “everything in his power” to ensure Khashoggi was free and able to work.
On Saturday, the Saudi consul-general opened the six-storey building to Reuters and gave journalists a tour.