Turkey Planning International Investigation Into Khashoggi Case

Date: 22 January 2019 - 21:09

News ID: ۶۲۳۶۳

ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkey is planning to launch an international investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and will take further steps in coming days, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by state-owned media.
Khashoggi, a royal insider who became a critic of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and began writing for the Washington Post after moving to the United States, was killed in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate on Oct. 2.
After making numerous contradictory statements about Khashoggi’s fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.
Turkey has previously said it was working with other countries on the Khashoggi investigation, and has accused Saudi Arabia of not fully cooperating to uncover the journalist’s killing.
Cavusoglu said in a speech that some Western countries were trying to cover up Khashoggi’s murder, adding that Turkey had made preparations to launch an international investigation on the matter, the state-owned Anadolu reported.
"There are Western countries trying to cover this case up. I know the reasons. We know and see what sorts of deals are made. We see how those who spoke of freedom of press are now covering this up after seeing money,” Anadolu quoted him as saying.
"We, however, will go until the end. We made preparations for an international investigation in the coming days and we will take the necessary steps,” he was cited as saying.
Despite a joint investigation with Saudi officials looking at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the consul’s residence and several other locations, the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains are still unknown.
The CIA is also said to have concluded that the crown prince had "probably ordered” the murder.
In December 2018, Turkey called for an international investigation into the case. Ankara wants Riyadh to extradite the suspects for them to stand trial in Istanbul, a request rejected by Saudi rulers.
Saudi Arabia held an initial hearing into Khashoggi's murder earlier this month, with the public prosecutor requesting the death penalty for five of the 11 suspects detained.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), however, said it cannot assess the fairness of the trial, and that in any case it was "not sufficient.”
It also called for an independent investigation "with international involvement.”

A man mourns by a makeshifts memorial made of candles and posters picturing late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a gathering outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul on October 25, 2018.