Newspaper says Turkey has audio of Saudi writer’s slaying
ISTANBUL — Turkish officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper reported Saturday.
The new claim published by the Sabah newspaper, through which Turkish security officials have leaked much information about the case, puts more pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi.
Also Saturday, Turkey’s top diplomat reiterated a call to Saudi Arabia to open up its consulate, from where Khashoggi disappeared, for Turkish authorities to search.
The writer, who has written critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, vanished after he walked into the consulate on Oct. 2. The kingdom has maintained the allegations against it are “baseless,” though an official early on Saturday — on Khashoggi’s 60th birthday — acknowledged for the first time that some believe the writer was killed by the kingdom.
Authorities recovered the audio from Khashoggi’s iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said. The journalist had given his phones to his fiancée before entering the consulate.
The newspaper also alleged Saudi officials tried to delete the recordings first by incorrectly guessing Khashoggi’s PIN on the watch, then later using the journalist’s finger. However, Apple Watches do not have a fingerprint ID unlock function like iPhones. The newspaper did not address that in its report.
An Apple Watch can record audio and can sync that later with an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection if it is close by. The newspaper’s account did not elaborate on how the Apple Watch synced that information to both the phone and Khashoggi’s iCloud account.
Turkish officials have not answered queries about Khashoggi’s Apple Watch.
Turkish officials say they believe a 15-member Saudi “assassination squad” killed Khashoggi at the consulate. They have also alleged that they have video of the slaying, but have not explained how they have it.
Turkey may be trying to protect its intelligence sources through leaking this way, analysts say.
“Under normal circumstances, intelligence services would want to protect their sources, whether human or technical,” Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security, wrote recently. She formerly worked on intelligence matters for the U.S. government.
She added: “The Turkish government may need to reveal sources it does not want to reveal if the Saudi Arabian government continues to deny involvement despite evidence Turkey has in its possession.”
Saudi Arabia has said it had nothing to do with Khashoggi’s disappearance, without explaining or offering evidence of how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul with his fiancée waiting outside.
A Saudi-owned satellite news channel has begun referring to the 15-man team as “tourists,” without providing evidence to support the claim. It echoes how Russia has described the men who allegedly carried out the Novichok nerve agent poisonings in Salisbury, England, in March.
Early on Saturday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud again denying the kingdom’s involvement. This time, however, it acknowledged for the first time that Saudi Arabia was accused of killing Khashoggi.
“What has been circulating about orders to kill (Khashoggi) are lies and baseless allegations against the government of the kingdom, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions,” Prince Abdulaziz said.
Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, said that Khashoggi’s disappearance will be “investigated strongly.” A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of a joint investigation into the writer’s disappearance.
“Such an act is an attack on all the values of the democratic world. It’s an act that will never be forgiven or covered up,” he said. “This is not an act that Turkey would ever consider legitimate. If there are people who committed this, it will have heavy consequences.”
However, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia had not yet cooperated with Turkey on the search for Khashoggi. He said Turkish “prosecutors and technical friends must enter” the consulate “and Saudi Arabia must cooperate with us on this.”
Saudi Arabia had said it would open the consulate for a search but that is yet to happen. Cavusoglu said Turkey would share information with Saudi Arabia in the “joint working group.”