[ad_1]
ISTANBUL – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo puts on Wednesday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, and says that a member of the royal family – found responsible.
Mr. Pompeo arrived in Ankara, the Turkish capital, a barrage of new information leaked by unidentified Turkish officials appeared in news outlets, giving details of what they say are audio recordings of Jamal Khashoggi being assaulted, tortured, killed and dismembered inside the consulate two weeks ago.
King Salman and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr. Pompeo told reporters early Wednesday before leaving Riyadh, Saudi capital: "They made a commitment to hold anyone accountable for that. If they are a senior officer or official, they must be accountable. "
Asked if that included members of the royal family, he said, "They made no exceptions to who they would hold accountable."
Several of the people identified by Saudis who carried out the killing Prince, who is considered the power behind the throne, and Western intelligence officials say that such an operation would have required his blessing. The Turks contend that a team of Saudi officials fled to Istanbul, killed Mr. Khashoggi and left of their body.
Mr. Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government who wrote columns for the Washington Post, entered the consulate on Oct. 2 for a meeting to obtain a document confirming his divorce, to allow him to marry his Turkish bride the next day. These officials have said that they have walked out of the building safe and sound.
Mr. Erdogan has not yet been accused of abducting or killing Mr. Khashoggi, but he has asked for answers. Joined Saudi-Turkish inquiry into the consulate building Monday night. They also requested access to the consulate's vehicles and the consul's personal residence.
On Tuesday, Mr. Erdogan said that the focus of the investigation has been that of the consulate had been repainted to hide evidence.
In a "60 Minutes" interview broadcast on Sunday, President Trump vowed "severe punishment" if the Saudis were responsible for Mr. Khashoggi's disappearance, and he has said he was sending Mr. Pompeo to Saudi Arabia to get to the bottom of the matter . But this week, he has Saudi denials.
Mr. Pompeo puts with Mr. Erdogan for 40 minutes at Ankara's airport Wednesday morning, along with Turkey's intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan; Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu; and the national security adviser, Ibrahim Kalin. Mr. Pompeo later held a meeting with Mr. Cavusoglu, and he flew out immediately.
Mr. Cavusoglu described the meeting, which covered the case of Mr. Khashoggi among other issues, as useful and fruitful. "Pompeo said he relayed Trump's thoughts and concerns to Riyadh," he said. "We had said before that Saudis should cooperate with us."
Mr. Cavusoglu said that the Turkish Prosecutor has been conducting an expansive investigation. But he added that the United States had appeared to be obstructing investigators seeking access to the consul's residence on Tuesday.
Investigators would continue to try to gain access, he added. The consul, Mohammad al-Otaibi, left Turkey for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
American officials said that the Saudis have been prepared to say that Mr. Khashoggi was killed accidentally during an interrogation, but there was no such admission so far.
Turkey has sought to join the United States, but despite agreeing to conduct a joint investigation, after King Salman and Mr. Erdogan spoke on Sunday, the two sides left poles apart. Saudi leaders continue to deny Mr. Khashoggi, and Turkish officials remain firm in their insistence that he was killed.
The pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak reported Wednesday that it had been written to the audio recording apparently made inside the consulate, of the minutes during which Mr. Khashoggi met his end, and said there was more than one recording. Other news organizations reported on the descriptions provided by Turkish officials.
In one of the recordings, Mr. Otaibi, is heard pleading with the perpetrators to conduct the assault outside the consulate, Yeni Safak reported.
"Do this outside. You will get me in trouble, "the newspaper quotes the consul as saying. "'If you want to live, shut up!' Is the response," it added.
