ISTANBUL – Turkishintelligence has shared “all the evidence” over themurder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the CIA chief during avisit, Turkish pro-government media reported on Wednesday.
CIA Director Gina Haspel visited the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday fortalks with officials about the killing of Washington Post contributorKhashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate.
Video images and audio tapes, as well as evidence gathered from theconsulate and the consul’s residence, were shared with Haspel during thebriefing at the Turkish Intelligence Organisation (MIT), Sabah newspaperreported.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stopped short of pointing theblame at the Saudi leadership for the death of the Saudiinsider-turned-critic.
But he said in a keynote speech on Tuesday that the murder was meticulouslyplanned, demanding that all those involved brought to justice.
Khashoggi, 59, vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi mission toobtain documents for his wedding.‘Savage murder’
Speaking at a ceremony in Ankara, Erdogan on Wednesday vowed that Turkeywould not allow the culprits to get away with their “savage murder”.
“We are determined not to allow any cover-up of this murder and for allthose responsible from those who gave the command to those who executed it— not to escape justice,” he said.
“We are not implicating anyone,” he added, saying that Ankara would betransparent as it gathers more evidence that shed light on the “dark sides”of the murder.
“It is not over yet,” he said. “We are unravelling, dismantling (the case)and the world is closely following.”
The whereabouts of Khashoggi’s corpse still remain unknown.
Erdogan said on Tuesday that a 15-person team came from Riyadh to killKhashoggi, including by carrying out reconnaissance outside Istanbul anddeactivating security cameras at the consulate.
Turkish police searched the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, and the consulgeneral’s residence as well as hunting for evidence in an Istanbul forest.
On Tuesday, the police searched an abandoned car belonging to the Saudiconsulate in an underground car park in the Sultangazi district of Istanbul.
The Saudi leadership has denied involvement in the murder and insteadblamed the chain of command.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “strongly said that he had nothing to dowith this, this was at a lower level,” US President Donald Trump said onTuesday, adding he had spoken on Monday to the prince and his father KingSalman.
Turkish pro-government media has claimed that Ankara has audio tapes of thekilling.
Last week, the Turkish government denied giving “any kind of audio tape”from the investigation to any US official. – APP/AFP