Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoglu in London
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in London Monday and discussed a range of issues.
Among the topics addressed in their closed-door meeting was the case of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which Hunt said remains “deeply concerning”.
“The UK fully supports the Turkish investigation into the incident as I reiterated in person to Mr. Cavusoglu today,” Hunt said.
“We have been urging Saudi Arabia to cooperate fully with the investigation. There remain questions about the disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi that only Saudi Arabia can answer.”
Hunt said the UK welcomes Saudi King Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s agreement yesterday to establish a joint working group to look into the matter.
He also said they welcome Saudi Arabia’s decision to ask the prosecutor general to establish an internal investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance and hold people accountable if the evidence warrants it.
On Saturday, Çavuşoğlu said Turkey expected cooperation from Saudi officials.
Turkish and Saudi officials arrived earlier Monday at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for a joint probe into Khashoggi's case.
On the same day Khashoggi went missing, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while Khashoggi was inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.
Çavusoğlu and Hunt also talked about bilateral and regional relations, the agreement between Turkey and Russia to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria, the fight against terrorism and Brexit, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
A British Foreign Office statement said Hunt “raised the situation in Syria, stressing the importance of ensuring the safety of civilians in Idlib and commended Turkey for hosting over 3.6 million refugees”.
Turkey's parliament speaker on Monday criticized developed countries over the way they have been handling the issue of migration.“Every day, boats full of people are trying to reach the west coast which have turned the Mediterranean [Sea] into a refugee graveyard,” Binali Yıldırım said at the 139th meeting of Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union.“If developed countries had predicted that this problem may arise, [finding] a solution would be much easier,” Yıldırım added.Fresh batch of refugees return to Syria from LebanonTurkey hosts more Syrian refugees than any other country in the world. The country has spent more than $32 billion from its own national resources for helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.Turkey has been the main route for irregular migrants trying to cross into Europe, especially since 2011 when the Syrian civil war began.
Turkey slams developed nations over migration issue
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Turkey after his meeting with Saudi King Salman over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.According to information that Anadolu Agency received, Pompeo will come to Turkey on Wednesday and expected to meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.Earlier today, President Donald Trump said that Pompeo was being dispatched to meet Saudi King Salman to discuss about the disappearance of Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for the Washington Post newspaper, has gone missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.Teams probing Saudi journalist's disappearance leave Istanbul consulateThe State Department confirmed the travel announcement, saying that Pompeo will leave for Riyadh Monday.Earlier on Monday, Turkish and Saudi officials arrived at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul after the start of a joint probe into the missing journalist.Saudi authorities have yet to give a clear explanation of what happened to Khashoggi, while several countries -- particularly Turkey, the U.S., and the U.K. -- are pressing for the mystery to be cleared up as soon as possible.Saudi Arabia to admit Khashoggi was killed: report
Pompeo to visit Turkey after Riyadh over Khashoggi
Turkish Chief of General Staff Yaşar Güler met Monday in Washington, D.C. with his U.S. counterpart Joseph Dunford and discussed regional security and the two countries' fight against terrorism.Güler is in the U.S. to attend the Counter-Violent Extremist Organization Conference, the Turkish General Staff said on its Twitter account.The two army chiefs discussed security and stability in the Syrian city of Manbij as well as bilateral cooperation against Daesh, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Defense following the meeting."The U.S. and Turkey enjoy a strong and continuous strategic military-to-military relationship as key members of the NATO alliance," the statement said.The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of terrorist YPG/PKK forces from the city in Aleppo province, northern Syria to stabilize the region.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken 40,000 lives, including many women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.
Turkish, US army chiefs meet in Washington