Erdogan: Journalist’s disappearance ‘very upsetting’

ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday called the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi “very, very upsetting” but stopped short of confirming reports that Mr. Khashoggi had been killed inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul last week.

“I am following this issue, pursuing it, and whatever the result, we will be the ones to tell the world,” Mr. Erdogan told reporters.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Turkish investigators had concluded that Mr. Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi leadership, had been killed inside the consulate Tuesday by a team sent from Saudi Arabia. A person familiar with the investigation called it a “preplanned murder.”

A U.S. official confirmed that Turkey’s government had determined that Mr. Khashoggi was probably killed inside the consulate by a team that arrived on two private jets. Turkish officials further concluded that his body was probably dismembered, removed in boxes and flown out of the country, the official said.

Saudi Arabia has denied the accusations, calling them “baseless,” and said Mr. Khashoggi, 59, left the consulate soon after he arrived.

The suspected murder of Mr. Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, could flare tensions between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, two regional powers whose rivalry has played out across the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is weary of Turkey’s expanding military power in the Persian Gulf, its support for political Islamists and its cooperation in the Syrian war with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s archrival. Turkey was alarmed by the Saudi leadership’s support for a military coup against Mohamed Morsi, the former Egyptian president and Muslim Brotherhood leader, in 2013.

Mr. Erdogan spoke to reporters Sunday following a speech in the capital, Ankara.