Turkey expects Saudi cooperation in Khashoggi case: FM Çavuşoğlu
LONDON-Anadolu Agency
Turkey expects cooperation from Saudi Arabia on the case of a missing prominent journalist, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Oct. 13
Speaking with reporters at the Turkish embassy residence in London, Çavuşoğlu said there is a consensus on forming a joint working group with Saudi officials over the case of Jamal Khashoggi, who has not been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
His comments came on the first day of a three-day visit to London.
“We launched an investigation after Khashoggi’s disappearance,” said Çavuşoğlu, adding: “This investigation is getting deeper.”
He said the consensus on forming a joint working group on the case with Saudi officials was reached after they requested one, but added “this does not mean that we will stop” Turkey’s own investigation.
Çavuşoğlu stressed that the findings of the investigation can be shared with this joint working group as Khashoggi is a Saudi national but “Saudi Arabia should be cooperating” by giving Turkish prosecutors and experts access to the consulate.
Saying that the cooperation so far had fallen short of what it should be, he added: “For everything to be cleared up, we would like to see this.”
“The whole world is focused on this case,” said Çavuşoğlu, adding that it will probably be raised during his Oct. 15 meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
On the same day Khashoggi arrived at the consulate, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the building while Khashoggi was also inside, police sources said. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.
Saudi authorities have yet to give a clear explanation of Khashoggi’s fate, while several countries — particularly Turkey, the U.S., and the U.K— are pressing for the case to be cleared up as soon as possible.
On a related note, a Turkish daily reported on Oct. 13 that Turkish authorities have obtained audio and video recordings indicating that Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and killed at the Saudi consulate.
“The moments when Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and murdered were recorded in the Apple Watch’s memory,” daily Sabah reported, adding that the watch had synched with his mobile phone which he had handed to his fiancée waiting outside the consulate.
Two senior Turkish officials previously told Reuters that Khashoggi had been wearing a black Apple watch when he entered the consulate and that it was connected to a mobile phone he left outside.