USA TODAY International Edition
Turkey: Saudis used hit squads
Journalist’s murder planned, president says
Saudi Arabia started planning journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder days before he vanished inside its consulate in Istanbul, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday as he revealed details about the investigation into Khashoggi’s killing. Erdogan said Turkey had amassed evidence that clearly showed The Washington Post columnist was killed in a premeditated and “savage” murder that involved at least three separate teams of Saudi intelligence agents, including a military general. Erdogan was speaking to parliament as part of his pledge to unveil the “naked truth” about a case that has shocked the world and raised suspicions that a Saudi hit squad planned Khashoggi’s killing after he walked into the consulate on Oct. 2, and then tried to cover it up. Erdogan said Khashoggi was “ferociously murdered.” Reports in British, Chinese and Russian media on Tuesday, all citing anonymous sources, said parts of Khashoggi’s body had been found at the Saudi Consulate. Erdogan said Saudi operatives first activated a plan to capture and kill Khashoggi after the journalist initially visited the consulate in Istanbul on Sept. 28. Ergodan called on 18 suspects – Saudi nationals all – detained in Saudi Arabia to be extradited to Turkey for trial and demanded that Saudi authorities in Riyadh provide information about who ordered the operation and the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body. Ergodan made no reference, however, to audio recordings leaked to Turkish media over the past three weeks that purport to reveal how Khashoggi was killed. He said the three teams of Saudi agents arrived in Istanbul on different days and flights and some members of one of the teams went on a reconnaissance mission to a forest outside Istanbul where investigators have been searching for Khashoggi’s remains. Most of the security cameras outside the consulate were removed, he said. The troubling affair has brought fresh scrutiny of the United States’ close relationship with Saudi Arabia and led President Donald Trump to defend the oil-rich kingdom’s leadership. In a USA TODAY interview, Trump called Khashoggi’s death a “plot gone awry,” a characterization that contrasts markedly with the evidence Turkey says it has, with the assessment of many U.S. lawmakers and with U.S. allies and rights groups. After initially denying any knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate, Saudi Arabia claimed the U.S. resident died in a fistfight. Erdogan’s address comes as skepticism intensified about the Saudi account, which critics say is designed to absolve Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s heir-apparent, of any responsibility. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday that Ankara had not yet shared any of its evidence, including the recordings of Khashoggi’s slaying, with other countries. He added that Turkey was ready to cooperate in any possible investigation into the Khashoggi case, either at the United Nations’ level or in international courts. Turkish officials have leaked a series of macabre and bizarre details about how Khashoggi may have been murdered. These include allegations that he was chopped up with a bone saw and that a Saudi operative impersonated Khashoggi on the day he died by dressing up in his clothes and wearing a fake beard. Erdogan’s speech also comes as an investment conference in Riyadh began. Dozens of high-profile executives and officials have abandoned the event. Separately, multiple media reports said CIA Director Gina Haspel has traveled to Turkey. It was not clear what the purpose of her trip is.