Trump and Erdogan ask the same question about Khashoggi's murder: "Where is the body?"

ISTANBUL – Twenty-four days after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, US and Turkish officials are still asking the same question question: where is the body

The remains of the Washington Post columnist are essential to approve the Saudi government's account changes and determine the punishment that suits the oil-rich monarchy, key partner of the Trump government's policy in the Middle -East.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stepped up pressure on the Saudi government on Friday in a speech calling for Khashoggi's body.

"It was declared that he had been killed, but where is the body?" Said Erdogan. "You have to show it."

For days President Trump has also been asking questions about his body in Washington, but Washington still does not know where he is, according to US officials and diplomats familiar with the situation.

Saudi officials said earlier this week that Khashoggi's body had been rolled on a carpet and turned over to a "local collaborator", but the Turkish authorities claimed that he had been dismembered when he was killed. an appalling operation involving a bone saw and large suitcases.

whatever its form, could give credence to Turkey's account, "said Amanda Sloat, a specialist from Turkey at the Brookings Institution. "If the body appears as the leaks suggest, it gives credence to the premeditated nature of this attack and takes a negative look at the Saudi regime."

On Thursday, CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed Trump on her recent trip to Turkey. where she listened to the alleged audio of Khashoggi's murder. But even after the meeting, US officials said they needed additional information before taking additional punitive measures.

"We continue to search all relevant facts in this case," said state department spokesman Robert Palladino. "As we know more, we will take additional measures if the facts warrant."

In his speech, Erdogan suggested that Turkey should have "additional information and documents" about the murder that she would eventually reveal and reiterated her appeal to Saudi Arabia. to hand over the 18 people arrested in the case if the authorities of the country could not "make them talk". Later in the day, the semi-official Anadolu news agency announced that Turkish prosecutors were about to "request" the extradition of these suspects. 19659014] "We are handing them over," said Erdogan. "The event was held in Istanbul. We will judge them. "

A senior Turkish official said that Turkey was asking for extradition because Khashoggi had been murdered by Saudis who had gone to Turkey and that it was" clear that the judicial system Turkish is better equipped to truly serve the cause.

In their own way, Turkey and the United States urge Saudi Arabia to provide a credible explanation for a crime that has sparked global condemnation and has urged countries to rebadess their links with Middle East power .

US and foreign officials said that such an operation – involving a team of Saudi agents – would probably not have occurred without the knowledge of the kingdom's leaders, including the ambitious Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In the aftermath of Khashoggi's murder in the Saudi consulate On October 2, Saudi Arabia offered changing explanations of what had happened. Khashoggi emerged unscathed from the back of the building, later claiming that his death was caused by a fight. But on Thursday, the country apparently acknowledged for the first time that the operation was "premeditated". Erdogan did not mention Friday this development, but criticized the previous Saudi accounts as "comical".

"These childish statements do not coincide with the seriousness of the state," Erdogan said.

[CIA director listens to audio of journalist’s alleged murder]

For Erdogan, who has headed Turkey since 2003, the crime has helped push back Saudi Arabia, one of its regional rivals, and weaken the Crown Prince's credibility. Mohammed this week called the killing a "heinous crime". Mohammed and his father, King Salman, told President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who were traveling to Saudi Arabia last week, that they did not know that there would be had plot to kill. Khashoggi.

The Trump government is nevertheless under pressure to take action against the kingdom, even though an alliance with the Saudis has been a mainstay of its Middle East strategy to counter Iran. Trump called Khashoggi's murder "one of the worst cover-ups in his history."

In his statement on Thursday, Riyadh said it had learned from Turkish officials that the suspects of Khashoggi's killing had "committed their act with premeditated intent. "The Saudi press release, attributed to the public prosecutor, was important because it recalled Turkey's conclusion, but it did not specify whether the Saudi investigators themselves had reached the same conclusion. 19659022] Pompeo, speaking in an interview with conservative Friday radio host Hugh Hewitt said: "Saudi prosecutors have made it clear yesterday that it was of a premeditated murder, and we continue to learn the facts. "

"The President made it clear that we would hold the perpetrators accountable, but that America has an important, long-term strategic interest in our relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and that we are going to Do both at the same time, protect our interests and hold those responsible accountable, "said Pompeo.

Khashoggi was visiting the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents allowing him to marry his Turkish girlfriend, Hatice Cengiz. He was a royal court insider who became critical of the Saudi government and was living in exile in Virginia, in part because of diminishing freedoms of expression and repression. of the dissent of which it was the object.

Khashoggi and Cengiz had recently furnished an apartment. for themselves in Istanbul. In an interview with Turkish TV channel Haberturk on Friday, Cengiz said Khashoggi had been treated well during a visit to the consulate on September 28.

He still had concerns, but "he thought that Turkey was a safe country, would be solved or questioned, this issue would be quickly resolved," said Cengiz, according to a report of the interview translated by Reuters.

Salah Khashoggi, the eldest son of Jamal Khashoggi, arrived in the United States on Thursday after his departure from Saudi Arabia. said someone close to the family. Salah is a US-Saudi dual citizen who was previously banned from leaving and was photographed earlier this week, meeting with Salman and Mohammed and receiving their condolences. The four children of Khashoggi are now in the United States

according to Hudson, from Washington. Josh Dawsey and Kareem Fahim contributed to this report.

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