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| This handout photo released by Turkish President Office shows Turkish president and leader of Turkey`s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) is applauded after delivering his speech during his party`s parliamentary group meeting at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on 23 October 2018. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for 18 Saudi suspects in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to stand trial in Istanbul, saying all those involved had to face punishment. - Photo: AFP |
But he said Turkey would not complete its investigation into Khashoggi’s death until all questions were answered.
“Intelligence and security institutions have evidence showing the murder was planned.... Pinning such a case on some security and intelligence members will not satisfy us or the international community,” he said.
“From the person who gave the order, to the person who carried it out, they must all be brought to account.”
Erdogan said the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body were still unknown and he demanded Saudi Arabia reveal the identity of a “local cooperator” who purportedly took the body.
Erdogan’s speech coincided with the opening of an investment conference which Western political figures, leading international bankers and company executives have boycotted because of the furor around Khashoggi’s death.
The Washington Post columnist, a sharp critic of the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, disappeared three weeks ago after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.
SAUDI VERSION
Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate by Saudi agents.
Turkish sources say authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the killing of the 59-year-old. Erdogan made no reference to any audio recording in his speech.
Riyadh initially denied knowledge of his fate before saying he was killed in a fight in the consulate. That version of events was greeted skeptically by several Western governments, straining relations with the world’s biggest oil exporter.
Erdogan said three operatives arrived in Istanbul the day before his killing on an apparent reconnaissance mission.
The next day 15 people came to the consulate. They included security, intelligence and forensic experts, and consulate personnel were given the day off.
“Why did these 15 people meet in Istanbul on the day of the murder? We are seeking answers to this. Who are these people receiving orders from?” Erdogan said.
Representatives for the White House and the U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Erdogan’s remarks
Following the global outrage prompted by the journalist’s disappearance, U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments have varied from playing down Riyadh’s role to warning of possible economic sanctions.
Trump has also repeatedly highlighted the kingdom’s importance as a U.S. ally and said Prince Mohammed was a strong and passionate leader.
For Saudi Arabia’s allies, the question will be whether they believe that Prince Mohammed, who has painted himself as a reformer, has any culpability. King Salman, 82, has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to the 33-year-old prince.
Trump spoke with Prince Mohammed on Sunday. He told reporters on Monday that he had teams in Saudi Arabia and Turkey working on the case and would know more about it after they returned to Washington on Monday night or Tuesday.
HIT-SQUAD
CIA Director Gina Haspel was traveling to Turkey on Monday to work on the Khashoggi investigation, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
On Saturday, Saudi state media said King Salman had fired five officials over the killing carried out by a 15-man hit team, including Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide who ran social media for Prince Mohammed. Riyadh is also working with Turkey on a joint investigation
Erdogan spoke as hundreds of bankers and company executives joined Saudi officials at a palatial Riyadh hotel for the Future Investment Initiative, an annual event designed to help attract billions of dollars of foreign capital as part of reforms to end Saudi dependence on oil exports.
More than two dozen high-level speakers have pulled out of the event following the outcry over Khashoggi’s killing. Many foreign investors see a risk that the case could damage Riyadh’s ties with Western governments.
Despite the furor, the world’s largest oil exporter says it expects to sign deals worth more than $50 billion in the oil, gas, industries and infrastructure sectors on the opening day with companies including Trafigura, Total, Hyundai, Norinco, Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Hughes.
Erdogan wants Istanbul trial over 'planned' Khashoggi murder
According to AFP, Erdogan had promised that his speech in Ankara would give the "naked truth" about the killing and he gave a host of new details while still saying Turkey wanted answers to key questions, including who gave the orders.
Hours before Erdogan delivered his speech to ruling party lawmakers, a major Saudi investment forum opened in Riyadh under the heavy shadow of the murder after key delegates pulled out.
The murder of the Washington Post contributor has damaged the international reputation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has spearheaded a reform drive in the kingdom.
"My demand is that 18 people be tried in Istanbul," Erdogan said in a speech to ruling party lawmakers in Ankara, referring to 18 people including security officials who have already been detained by Riyadh.
He added that "all those who played a role in the murder" had to face punishment.
Erdogan said that the murder was "planned" days in advance according to a "roadmap" set up by a Saudi team who were sent to Istanbul for the purpose. The surveillance system at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was deactivated on purpose, he said.
"First they (the Saudis implicated) removed the hard disc from the camera system," Erdogan said. "This is a political murder," he added.
But Erdogan added he still wanted answers on numerous issues including "who gave orders" to the team and where the corpse is.
Erdogan did not mention Prince Mohammed by name in the speech but said he was confident of the full cooperation of his father Saudi King Salman in the probe.
- 'Must never happen again' -
Saudi Arabia only confirmed the killing more than two weeks after the event. The killing has alarmed even Saudi Arabia's staunchest Western allies.
US President Donald Trump said he was "not satisfied" with Riyadh's explanations.
A former royal family insider turned critic of the Saudi crown prince, Khashoggi, 59, disappeared after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to collect a document for his upcoming marriage.
The case has shone the spotlight on the crown prince, who was credited with reforms including giving women the right to drive but is now accused of having ordered Khashoggi's murder -- a claim Riyadh denies.
The timing of the controversy could not be worse for Prince Mohammed as the investment summit, dubbed "Davos in the desert", began in Riyadh, overshadowed by big name cancellations and Erdogan's threat of revelations.
Dozens of executives, including from banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, ride-hailing app Uber and Western officials such as International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde have pulled out of the three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII).
French energy giant Total's head Patrick Pouyanne, however, said he would attend the meeting, arguing that "empty chair politics" do not advance human rights.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Berlin would not export arms to Riyadh "in the current situation," despite Germany's approval last month of 416 million euros' ($480 million) worth of arms exports in 2018.
Despite also pulling out of the summit, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met the crown prince behind closed doors for bilateral talks in Riyadh. CIA Director Gina Haspel, meanwhile, headed for Turkey, although details of her trip were not immediately clear.
White House advisor and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, believed to have close ties with the crown prince, said he had urged him to be "fully transparent", stressing that "the world is watching".
Speaking in Jakarta, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir vowed "a thorough and complete investigation". He said procedures would be put in place to "ensure that something like this can never happen again."
- Abandoned Saudi car -
With Khashoggi's remains still missing, Turkish police have found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate in an underground car park in the Sultangazi district of Istanbul, state media said.
CNN broadcast images apparently showing a Saudi official playing a body double for Khashoggi, wearing the journalist's clothes, exiting the consulate.
Saudi Arabia in 'crisis' in face of Khashoggi murder
Anothe AFP report said, Saudi Arabia is in "crisis" in the face of international outrage over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Tuesday at an investment summit boycotted by a host of global CEOs and policymakers.
The three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII) was meant to project the historically insular petro-state as a lucrative business destination and set the stage for new ventures and multi-billion dollar contracts.
But the summit, nicknamed "Davos in the desert", has been overshadowed by the outcry over the murder of Khashoggi inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, with a string of leading international investors pulling out over the case.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king's powerful son whose reform credentials have been heavily damaged by the scandal despite repeated denials he had any involvement in the killing, was a no-show at the opening session.
"As we know these are difficult days. We are going through a crisis," Falih said in his speech..
Falih said the murder of Khashoggi was regrettable, adding that "nobody in the kingdom can justify it".
The comments come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded to know who gave the order for Khashoggi's killing in his country and the location of the slain journalist's corpse.
- Tight security -
The Riyadh conference opened amid tight security at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, with Russian Direct Investment Fund chief Kirill Dmitriyev and Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan headlining.
Falih heaped praise on the CEO of French energy giant Total, Patrick Pouyanne, for standing by Saudi Arabia in this difficult period.
"We see what partnership means when you have difficult times," Pouyanne responded as he shared the stage with Falih.
"This is when you really strengthen a partnership."
But a long list of investors and international policymakers have declined to show up in Riyadh in apparent protest against the Khashoggi killing.
Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser, corporate chiefs from JP Morgan, Ford and Uber, and media powerhouses like Bloomberg, CNN and the Financial Times all scrapped plans to attend.
Ministers from Britain and France and the United States, which have huge defence deals at stake with Saudi Arabia, have stayed away.
A wider Western boycott of the conference suggests rising political risks in Saudi Arabia that could hit foreign direct investment, which already plunged to a 14-year low last year, according to a UN body.
"Despite talk of reform, FDI inflows into Saudi have stayed low and the scandal will only increase investor uncertainty," said research firm Capital Economics.
And in a fresh setback, the forum's website went down on Monday after an apparent cyberattack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
It was back up with reduced content when the conference opened.
- 'PR crisis' -
This year's conference contrasts with last year's inaugural FII -- a star-studded event at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, where Prince Mohammed was lionised as a visionary by speakers.
But many Western firms have too much at stake to abandon the Arab world's biggest economy, and some have decided to send lower-level executives.
Companies from China and Russia have also shown little interest in withdrawing from the event, an organiser said.
"The high profile withdrawal of so many American CEOs from the conference certainly presents opportunities for Asian and Russian companies to make a splash," Ellen Wald, author of the book "Saudi Inc.", told AFP.
The crown prince, widely known by his initials MBS, faces what the risk consultancy Eurasia Group has called "an acute public relations crisis" over Khashoggi's murder.
After more than two weeks of vehement denials, Saudi Arabia has now admitted Khashoggi was killed in the consulate.
In the past weeks, Turkish media and officials speaking to international media have said audio recordings prove Khashoggi was tortured before being decapitated although no concrete evidence of their existence has emerged.
Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said Tuesday the killing of a critic must "never happen again", as he pledged a "thorough and complete" investigation.
Khashoggi's killing fits the pattern of a recent crackdown on dissent in the kingdom, in which clerics, business high-fliers and women activists have been detained.
Further stoking investor anxiety, the kingdom is embroiled in an expensive war in Yemen and is leading an embargo against neighbouring Qatar.
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