Turkey gave Khashoggi tapes to European countries, says Erdogan
Turkey has shared recordings related to the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Germany, France and Britain, President Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.
Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October. Erdogan has stated the murder was ordered by the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.
Erdogan, who attended First World War commemorations in Paris alongside world leaders this morning, said several other countries had heard tapes relevant to the killing.
“We gave the tapes. We gave them to Saudi Arabia, to the United States, Germans, French and British, all of them. They have listened to all the conversations in them. They know,” Erdogan told Reuters.
Erdogan’s comments mark the latest attempt to put pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing. He repeated demands for information on the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body, amid reports it may have been dissolved in acid.
Saudi Arabia has changed its explanation of the events surrounding Khashoggi’s murder. It initially claimed Khashoggi left the consulate alive, before saying rogue agents were responsible for his death.
A Turkish official last week said Saudi Arabia sent a “clean-up team” to the consulate to dispose of evidence of the journalist’s murder.
Saudi Arabia has faced international backlash since the murder. In October numerous high-profile companies, including Google, withdrew from the country’s Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference.
Despite this, the three-day business event in Riyadh went ahead, with Saudi Arabia signing business deals worth $50bn.
During a meeting on Saturday President Trump and President Macron agreed Saudi authorities must do more to shed light on the murder, according to Reuters.