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ISTANBUL – A team of investigators entered Monday at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul for what Turkish officials have called a joint inspection of the building where Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared almost two weeks ago. The team arrived at the consulate with unmarked police cars and said nothing to the reporters who were waiting outside as they entered the building.
The police then pushed back journalists from the front of the consulate, where they have been stationed for days, putting up a new cordon to keep them at bay.
The composition of the investigation team that entered the diplomatic forum was not clear in the immediate future. International concern continues to grow in the face of the author 's disappearance on October 2. US lawmakers have threatened severe punitive measures against the Saudis. Germany, France and Britain jointly called for a "credible investigation" into Khashoggi's disappearance.
A Foreign Ministry official had previously announced that the team would travel to the diplomatic post on Monday. The grievor spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with government regulations. Officials in Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Turkish officials said they feared that a Saudi strike team entering and leaving Turkey on October 2 had killed and dismembered Khashoggi, who had written columns of the Washington Post criticizing the crown prince. Saudi Mohammed bin Salman. The kingdom called such allegations "unfounded" but provided no evidence that Khashoggi had ever left the consulate.
Such research would be an extraordinary development, as embassies and consulates under the Vienna Convention are technically foreign. Saudi Arabia may have accepted the search to calm its Western allies and the international community.
However, it was unclear what evidence, if any, would remain close to two weeks after Khashoggi's disappearance. As if to return home, a cleaning crew with mops and garbage bags passed in front of reporters who were waiting in front of the consulate on Monday.
President Donald Trump said that Saudi Arabia could be "severely punished" if it was proven that she was involved in the disappearance of Khashoggi. Trump tweeted Monday that he had spoken to Saudi King Salman, "who denies having any knowledge" of what happened to Khashoggi.
"He said that they were working closely with Turkey to find an answer," Trump wrote. "I immediately send our Secretary of State (Mike Pompeo) to meet King!"
Mr. Trump later said maybe the "dishonest killers" are responsible for the fate of the journalist. But, added the president, who knows.
Last Sunday, Saudi Arabia warned that if it "receives any action, it will respond with more active action and the kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy".
"The kingdom claims its total rejection of any threat and its attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, by using political pressure or by repeating false accusations," said the statement issued by the government. Saudi press agency, the Saudi press agency.
The declaration has not been drawn up. However, an article published in English shortly after by the general director of Al-Arabiya's satellite information network, owned by Saudi Arabia, suggests that Saudi Arabia could use its oil production like a weapon. The Brent benchmark is trading at around $ 80 a barrel and Trump has criticized OPEC and Saudi Arabia for their price hike.
The Saudi media followed this statement on Monday in TV shows and the front pages of newspapers.
The Arabic-language daily Okaz wrote Monday in a title in English a title entitled "Do not test our patience". He was showing a closed fist composed of a crowd of people of the green color of the country.
The Saudi Gazette said: "Enough is enough," while the Arab News newspaper said: "Saudi Arabia will not be bullied."
The title of the Arab News newspaper was above an editorial published on the front page by Dubai-based real estate magnate Khalaf al-Habtoor, calling on Arab Gulf countries to boycott international companies that are now retiring from a planned economic summit in Riyadh later this month.
"Together, we must prove that we will not be intimidated, otherwise, mark my words, once they have finished hitting the kingdom, we will be next on the list," said Habtoor.
Already, international business leaders are pulling out of the kingdom's next investment forum, a well-known event called "Davos in the Desert", even though it has no connection with the World Economic Forum. They include the CEO of Uber, a company in which Saudi Arabia has invested billions of dollars; billionaire Richard Branson; Jamie Dimon, Managing Director of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Co.
News that Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi is withdrawing from the conference has provoked angry reactions in the region. The Foreign Minister of the neighboring island kingdom of Bahrain, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, tweeted Sunday night to announce that there should be a boycott of the enforcement application from the country in Saudi Arabia.
Late Sunday, Saudi King Salman met by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about Khashoggi. Turkey said Erdogan "stressed the formation of a joint working group to investigate the case". Saudi Arabia also said that King Salman thanked Erdogan "for having welcomed the Kingdom's proposal" for the establishment of the working group.
The king said that Turkey and Saudi Arabia have close relations and "that no one can undermine the strength of these relations," according to a statement issued by the Saudi Saudi press agency. While Turkey and the kingdom diverge on political issues, Saudi investments are a crucial lifeline for Ankara, despite the problems with its national currency, the Turkish lira.
Prince Mohammed, son of King Salman, has aggressively introduced the kingdom as a destination for foreign investment. But the disappearance of Khashoggi has led several business leaders and media to withdraw from the upcoming investment conference in Riyadh, dubbed Future Investment Initiative.
The Saudi stock market, considered a few months earlier as a darling of cross-border investors, plunged 7% at one point on Sunday before closing at over 4%. On Monday, the Tadawul Stock Exchange in Riyadh closed up 4%.
The Japanese bank SoftBank, which has invested tens of billions of dollars in funds from the Saudi government, seems to have expressed concerns Monday. SoftBank sold more than 7% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Khashoggi wrote extensively for the post on Saudi Arabia, criticizing his war in Yemen, his recent diplomatic clashes with Canada and his arrest of women's rights activists after the ban on driving was lifted. These policies are all considered initiatives of the Crown Prince.
