ANKARA – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed Saudi Arabia on Thursday torelease images that prove Riyadh’s claim missing journalist Jamal Khashoggileft the Saudi consulate in Istanbul alive, vowing Turkey would “not remainsilent” in the mystery over his fate.-
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished on October 2 after hewent to the consulate to obtain official documents for his upcomingmarriage.
Saudi Arabia has insisted the journalist left the building safely. ButTurkish government sources said police believe Khashoggi was killed by anassassination team sent to Istanbul.
The Saudi consulate has said CCTV cameras were not working that day and hasdismissed the murder claims as “baseless”.
But in comments to Turkish reporters travelling on his presidential plane,Erdogan indicated that he did not find the Saudi explanations sufficient.
“Is it possible there were no camera systems in a consulate, in an embassy?Is it possible that there was no Saudi camera system where this incidenttook place?” Erdogan said, according to Hurriyet daily.
“If a bird flew, or a fly or a mosquito appeared, the systems would capturethis; they (Saudi Arabia) have the most cutting-edge systems,” he wasquoted as saying.
While unnamed Turkish officials quoted in the media have been givingsometimes macabre details of the alleged murder, Erdogan has so far beenmore circumspect.
He has said Saudi Arabia must prove its version of events but so far hasstopped short of directly accusing the kingdom or laying the blame onpowerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
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“This is an incident which took place in our country. It’s not possible forus to stay silent regarding an incident like this,” Erdogan said.
“It would not be right for me to make any comment at this moment. But wehave concerns.”
Turkish police are looking into a team of 15 Saudis who were at theconsulate at the same time as Khashoggi and arrived in Istanbul on October2 on board two private planes.
The 15 have been described by Turkish media as an “assassination team” whotook the footage with them.
Khashoggi was a former government adviser who fled Saudi Arabia inSeptember 2017 and lived in the United States fearing arrest back home.
In his columns for the Washington Post and comments elsewhere, Khashoggiwas critical of some policies of Mohammed bin Salman as well as Riyadh’srole in the war in Yemen. – APP/AFP
