Khashoggi assassination: Turkey promises to reveal the "truth" about the death of a Saudi critic

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Reuters

Turkey has promised to reveal all the details about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, after Saudi Arabia acknowledged for the first time that he had been killed in his consulate in Istanbul.

"Turkey will never allow concealment," said a spokesman for the ruling party.

Saudi Arabia said Friday that Mr Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi critic, had died as a result of a "fist fight".

Turkish officials had previously stated that he had been deliberately killed inside the consulate and that his body had been dismembered.

Earlier this week, anonymous Turkish officials told the media that they had sound and visual evidence to prove it.

The Saudi kingdom has been under intense pressure to explain the disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi after he entered the Istanbul consulate on October 2 to search for documents for his upcoming marriage. Until Friday, he denied knowing where he was and insisted that he had left the building alive.

Turkish police and prosecutors carried out searches at the consulate and the consul's residence this week in search of evidence of what had happened. On Friday, they expanded their search into a nearby forest, where anonymous officials think her body may have been thrown away.

What is the version of events in Saudi Arabia?

The kingdom says that a fight broke out between Mr. Khashoggi, who had fallen out of favor with the Saudi government, and the people who met him at the consulate – ending with his death.

Investigations are ongoing and 18 Saudi nationals have already been arrested.

Unnamed officials who spoke to the Reuters news agency and the New York Times said the Saudis did not know where the body was after it was handed over to a "local collaborator".

In addition to the arrests, two high-ranking officials were fired: deputy director of intelligence services, Ahmad al-Assiri, and Saud al-Qahtani, chief assistant to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

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Twiiter / @ suadq1978

The Saudi authorities have yet to present evidence to support this version of the events.

Observers question whether Western allies in Saudi Arabia will find the story of a "failed surrender" convincing – and whether this will persuade them not to take punitive measures against them.

US President Donald Trump said what happened was "unacceptable", but the arrests were an important "first step". The UK Foreign Office said it was considering next steps after hearing the report.

What did Turkey say?

"Turkey will reveal everything that happened," said Omer Celik of the ruling AKP party, according to the Anadolu News Agency.

"No one should ever doubt it, we do not accuse anyone in advance, but we do not accept anything to stay covered." [up]. "

Publicly, Turkey has so far not stopped blaming Saudi Arabia for the murder.

Turkish investigators, however, claimed to have audio and video evidence showing that Mr. Khashoggi had been killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the consulate and had been dismembered. The reports in the Turkish media this week gave macabre details about what it is said to be his last minutes.

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The Turkish media announced earlier this week that it had identified a team of 15 alleged agents of Saudi Arabia who broke into and bound for Istanbul on the day of the disappearance.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Saudi King Salman on Friday night, and the two agreed to continue cooperating with the investigation.

Only a first step

Analysis of BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner

The Saudi leadership now hopes that his belated admission that Khashoggi died, after all, in his consulate – associated with a handful of layoffs and arrests – will be enough to draw a line in this case. It will not be.

This is only a first step towards publishing the truth about what really happened. Given the days of indignant denials by Saudi leaders, it is unlikely that we have gone this far without sustained international pressure.

There can only be one of two possible alternatives: either – as many suspect – the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was to blame or he had lost control of his inner circle, a fact hard to believe for most observers .

MBS, as it is known, has a huge clientele among young patriotic Saudis who see him as a visionary reformer. If this support were to disappear now, the crown prince could be dangerously isolated at the court.

How did Western allies in Saudi Arabia react?

President Trump congratulated the kingdom for acting swiftly and stated that the official explanation was "credible", despite the fact that many US lawmakers have expressed disbelief in the Saudi story.

Trump underscored the importance of Saudi Arabia as a counterweight to Iran in the Middle East and stressed the need to impose sanctions on the country in the light of new information, evoking the effects of such a move on the US economy.

Earlier this week, he warned of "very serious" consequences if it was proved that Saudi Arabia had killed the journalist.

A number of US lawmakers, including the Saudi-critical Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, have expressed skepticism about the report on the journalist's death.

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The British Foreign Ministry has described this act as a "terrible act" and said that those responsible for the killing "must be held accountable".

Australia is the latest country to announce its withdrawal from an investment summit in Saudi Arabia later this month – joining a growing boycott that includes US, British, Dutch finance ministers and French for the murder of Khashoggi.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called for a "thorough investigation" to ensure that "all relevant facts will be clear as soon as possible".

Hatice Cengiz, Mr. Khashoggi's fiancée, asked in a tweet what had happened to his body saying, "The heart is awful, tears in your eyes, and with your separation, we are saddened, my dear Jamal."