Numan Kurtulmuş, Deputy chairman of the AKP
Turkey will not allow a cover-up after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a senior member of President Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling AK Party said on Sunday, warning that consequences could be "dire".
After denying any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, 59, for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Saturday said the journalist and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had died in a fistfight at the consulate. An hour later, another Saudi official attributed the death to a chokehold.
"If the incident transpired as it has been told across the world, there is no way Saudi officials can cover this up by saying a team from Saudi Arabia came and two or three men among them murdered him," Numan Kurtulmuş, deputy chairman of the AKP told CNN Turk in an interview.
"A crime committed in a consulate cannot be carried out without the knowledge of the senior state officials of that country. If this crime was really carried out as has been said, if the evidence really leads to that conclusion, the situation will be dire and this must have very serious legal consequences."
Reflecting the intensifying international scepticism over its account, a senior Saudi government official has laid out a new version that in key respects contradicts previous explanations.
The latest account includes details on how the team of 15 Saudi nationals sent to confront Khashoggi had threatened him with being drugged and kidnapped and then killed him in a chokehold when he resisted. A member of the team then dressed in Khashoggi's clothes to make it appear as if he had left the consulate.
Germany has called for a united international response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul.‘We need a united response from the international community,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter on Sunday, adding that Berlin was coordinating its stance together with France, the U.K., other EU partners and the G7 states.Khashoggi was last seen on Oct. 2 when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.After days of denying to know his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi died during a fight inside the consulate.Maas said a “credible” investigation was expected from Saudi Arabia on the real circumstances surrounding Khashoggi’s death.Germany’s top diplomat also signalled that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government would put on hold arms sales to Saudi Arabia.“As long as this investigation continues, as long as we don’t know what really happened there, I think that there is no basis for a positive on arms exports to Saudi Arabia,” he told German public broadcaster ARD.Turkey increases visitors of ancient Ethiopian mosqueGermany hopeful of Syria summit in IstanbulGermany looking to coordinate global minimum corporate tax
Germany calls for united response to Khashoggi killing
The whereabouts of Jamal Khashoggi’s body has become a pressing question after Saudi Arabia admitted that the veteran journalist had died during a “brawl” at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.“Where is the body of Jamal Khashoggi?” Syrian journalist Musa al-Omar asked.“He should be buried in Al-Baqi’ [a cemetery in Madinah in western Saudi Arabia] as recommended."Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the consulate on Oct. 2.After days of denying to know his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi was killed during a fight inside the consulate.Roger Cohen, a columnist for The New York Times, scoffed at the Saudi explanation on the circumstances of Khashoggi's killing.“Strangled in “a fistfight”?? 15 agents sent to “meet him”?? One of them with a saw??” Oh, and didn’t Khashoggi walk out the consulate 17 days ago?? He wondered.Kuwait welcomes decisions by Saudi king on 'regretful' Khashoggi caseSaudi explanation of Khashoggi death not credible: British minister“If [U.S. Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo was sent to Riyadh to cobble together a plausible story, well, mission failed,” he said.On Tuesday, Pompeo visited Riyadh for talks with Saudi officials on Khashoggi’s disappearance.On the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.A joint Turkish-Saudi team completed an investigation into the case on Thursday after searching the residence of the consul general as well as the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.Khashoggi saw Turkey as key country in new Middle East“Where is the body?”Several Arab journalists raised the questions about the Saudi journalist’s body.“He died as a result of a fistfight, where is the body of Jamal Khashoggi?" Lebanese journalist Najla Abu Mari asked.Yemeni journalist Hamdi al-Bakari tweeted "Where is his body?"Bahraini journalist Nazih Saeed also asked about Khashoggi’s body, saying the dismissal of officials was "not enough to achieve justice."Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman was sarcastic about the Saudi king’s decision to dismiss the deputy intelligence chief Ahmad Asiri and senior adviser Saud al-Qahtani over the case."We can understand your dismissal [King Salman] of them in this way: for their failure to oversee the assassination of Khashoggi without scandals,” she wrote on Twitter.There was no comment from Saudi authorities on the allegation.Emirati political analyst Abdul Khaliq Abdullah said on Twitter: "May Allah have mercy on the champion of freedom Khashoggi."Oman welcomes Saudi decisions on 'regrettable' Khashoggi case"This is a sad day for me, for his friends, family, the liberals of the world and for anyone who courageously dared to say the truth and fight the battle of freedom and pay costly for it," Abdullah said.Egyptian academic Saif al-Din Abdul Fattah asked about the whereabouts of the Saudi journalist’s body."Why did the Saudi authorities deny more than once that Khashoggi was murdered? Where was the man's body?" he asked.Egyptian political activist Wael Ghonim said on Twitter "the remembrance of Khashoggi’s martyrdom will live in the hearts and minds of many believers in humanity all over the world.""I knew him a noble knight, loved his country and suffered so much from being away from his homeland,” he said, going on to call on Saudi Arabia to bring perpetrators and planners of the “brutal crime” to justice.Arab states hail Saudi explanation on Khashoggi killing
Whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body raises questions
Saudi Arabia's explanation of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul is not credible, Britain's Brexit minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday.After denying any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, 59, for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Saturday morning said he had died in a fistfight at the consulate. An hour later, another Saudi official attributed the death to a chokehold.Asked during an interview on BBC TV if he believed the explanation, Raab said: "No, I don’t think it is credible ... We support the Turkish investigation into it and the British government will want to see people held to account for that death."Khashoggi saw Turkey as key country in new Middle EastUK Brexit minister Raab says open-minded on extending post-Brexit transition
Saudi explanation of Khashoggi death not credible: British minister
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul regarded Turkey as a key country for a new Middle East, his friends told AP in an interview.Sarah El Deeb, an AP journalist based in Lebanon, talked to some of his friends."Friends say Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a proud Arab who wanted to set up a base in his ancestral homeland of Turkey, contributing to the growing community of exiled Arabs who have taken refuge there," she said in the article."For Khashoggi, a history lover, the growing Arabic community and Turkey’s power in the region echoed aspects of the Ottoman empire, when Istanbul was at the center of a rich and multicultural Middle East."Kashoggi was planning to marry his Turkish fiancee on Oct. 3, had bought a home in Istanbul and was planning to split his time between Istanbul and the U.S. state of Virginia, the article says.We want justice for Jamal Khashoggi, says head of Turkish-Arab Media AssociationAmnesty urges UN investigation, independent autopsy in Khashoggi deathBahrain praises Saudi king's decisions: Al Arabiya TVEiad Alhaji, a Syrian filmmaker and friend of Khashoggi, said: "We used to go together to sit and talk, two strangers outside our country and society, about what is happening with the Arabs in Turkey and in America. Me as a Syrian, and him as a Saudi Arabian." Another friend Fatih Oke stated that he and Khashoggi had plans to do some projects.The article said that in his last interviews Khashoggi declared his support for Turkey’s Syria policy but criticized Saudi government's stance on it.Azzam Tamimi, a British-Palestinian, said that Khashoggi had found a warm place in Istanbul."Khashoggi found a welcoming place in Istanbul. In Istanbul you don’t feel like a stranger, the people, the food, the habits,” Tamimi said.Investigators likely to discover what happened to Khashoggi body 'before long'Turkey vows to reveal details of Khashoggi's killingEgypt commends 'decisive' and 'brave' actions by Saudi King over Khashoggi case"Also, Turkey’s current political authority has been the closest to Arabs since the fall of the Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago. Erdogan and his party opened up to the Arabs," Tamimi added.Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.After days of denying to know his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi died during a fight inside the consulate.On the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.A joint Turkish-Saudi team completed an investigation into the case on Thursday after searching the residence of the consul general as well as the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.UNESCO chief condemns killing of KhashoggiUS congressman says Jared Kushner may have organized Khashoggi murderYemen praises Saudi decisions on journalist's death
Khashoggi saw Turkey as key country in new Middle East
Oman welcomed on Sunday Saudi Arabia's decisions "on the regrettable incident" that led to the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the state news agency ONA reported."The sultanate welcome decisions taken by the kingdom in this regard, insists on the importance to allow justice to take its course, away from any interpretation," ONA said, quoting a statement from the Gulf state's foreign ministry. Arab states hail Saudi explanation on Khashoggi killingGermany calls into question arms sales to Saudi over Khashoggi deathAmid scepticism, Saudi official provides another version of Khashoggi death‘Chokehold or strangulation’ caused death of KhashoggiMerkel demands full facts on Khashoggi’s killingNew Zealand will not attend Saudi investment summit over Khashoggi death
Oman welcomes Saudi decisions on 'regrettable' Khashoggi case