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By Saphora Smith, Aziz Akyavas and Brinley F. Bruton
The American writer Jamal Khashoggi was strangled or suffocated as soon as he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and his body was later dismembered and eliminated, the chief prosecutor of Turkey announced on Wednesday.
After weeks of leaks, Irfan Fidan's comments mark the first detailed account by Turkish officials of what they think happened to Khashoggi after his disappearance on October 2nd.
"In accordance with the plans drawn up in advance, the victim, Jamal Khashoggi, was strangled to death immediately after entering the Saudi Consulate General," the prosecutor said in a statement.
"The body of the victim was dismembered and destroyed following his death by suffocation – as expected," said a two-page statement.
Fidan did not offer any proof for its version of the events.
The Turkish prosecutor also said that talks with Saudi prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb had given no "concrete result" despite "well-intentioned efforts by Turkey to reveal the truth".
Turkey requests the extradition of 18 suspects in the murder of the journalist who were arrested in Saudi Arabia. He also urges the kingdom to obtain information on the location of Khashoggi's remains.
The death of Khashoggi – a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – sparked global indignation and left the kingdom in crisis.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly changed its account of what happened to Khashoggi after he joined the consulate nearly a month ago.
President Donald Trump has called Khashoggi's assassination attempt "the worst dissimulation ever suffered."
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the killing of Khashoggi "violated the norms of international law," but again emphasized the importance of what he described as a "relationship" "long and" strategic "between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
"It is very important for us to keep this in mind as we continue to hold the responsibility of all those involved in the murder," he told Fox News Radio.
After vehemently denying Riyadh's involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, Saudi officials admitted that the dissident had been killed inside the building.
But for days, they maintained that Khashoggi's death was a mistake, when the rogue agents' attempt to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia turned into a fatal hand-to-hand fight.
The Saudi Attorney General admitted Thursday that evidence shared by Turkish officials suggests that the killing of Khashoggi was "premeditated".
CLARIFICATION (November 4, 2018, 11:05 ET): An earlier version of this article was imprecise reference to the press organization to which Pompeo had spoken. That was Fox News Radio, not Fox News.
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