The disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi

Erdogan’s comments were his most direct suggestion yet about potential Saudi culpability in Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Turkey has summoned the Saudi ambassador to request the kingdom’s “full co-operation” in an investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who Turkish officials say was killed while visiting the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia has dismissed the allegation as baseless, while the United Nations has called the conservative kingdom to cooperate with Turkey in conducting an “impartial and independent investigation”. Its passengers checked into two hotels near the consulate and booked rooms until October 5.

Saudi officials insist he left through one of the consulate’s doors.

Turan Kislakci, a friend of Khashoggi and the head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, spoke to the AP on Sunday outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He said that “there was Saudi involvement” in whatever happened with the journalist, who wrote columns for The Washington Post.

He has not been heard of since.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia faced increased scrutiny over Khashoggi’s disappearance from officials in America, the kingdom’s longtime ally. “It is not possible for us to remain silent regarding such an occurrence, because it is not a common occurrence”, he said.

The Turkish security camera video was reminiscent of the surveillance video sleuthing done by officials investigating the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai in 2010 or the slaying of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half brother in Malaysia in 2017.

Demirören News Agency reported on October 9 that one of the planes was searched by Turkish authorities before leaving Turkey for Dubai.

TRT World’s Ben Tornquist reports.

Mr Khashoggi had gone to the consulate to collect divorce papers relating to his previous marriage, leaving his fiancee with his Saudi phone on the street outside.

“We can not let this happen to reporters, to anybody”, Mr Trump said on Wednesday.

But speaking to reporters afterward, Erdogan said he was awaiting a prosecutor’s investigation about what had happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, 59, has had a long career as a senior journalist in Saudi Arabia and also as an adviser to top officials. The consulate has also denied that Khashoggi was abducted. The existence of serious allegations regarding the likely murder – or at the very least imprisonment – of a journalist in one of their key consulates should have the State Department questioning whether the two nations share common values. Khashoggi is a critic of the Saudi regime.

“I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice”, Khashoggi wrote in September 2017. “I can speak when so many cannot”.

Earlier on Tuesday, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt met the Saudi ambassador, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, to voice the UK’s concern about the disappearance Mr Khashoggi.

He said police were examining CCTV footage of entrances and exits at the consulate and Istanbul airport.

Karen Elliott House, a veteran writer on Saudi affairs and chairwoman of the board of trustees at RAND Corp., said USA support for the Yemen war is likely to be the focus of congressional criticism but won’t endanger a relationship that has endured for decades, underpinned by shared strategic interests.

Opening cupboards, filing cabinets and wooden panels covering air conditioning units, Otaibi walked through the six floors of the building including a basement prayer room, offices, visa counters, kitchens and toilets as well as storage and security rooms. Saudi officials said that he left shortly after, but his fiancée, who was waiting for him outside the building, said he had not come out.