ANAKARA – Turkish prosecutors have summoned more witnesses to testify aspart of the investigation into the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,local television reported Sunday.
Twenty-five more people will be quizzed as witnesses, the private NTVbroadcaster said, without providing any further details.
On Friday, prosecutors questioned staff members of the Saudi Arabianconsulate in Istanbul inside Istanbul s main courthouse, including theconsulate driver, technicians and accountants.
Early on Saturday Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi, a critic ofthe Saudi leadership and a Washington Post contributor, was killed insidethe kingdom s Istanbul consulate.
For more than two weeks they had insisted that he left the building alive.
Turkish police and prosecutors this week searched both the consulate andthe consul s residence in Istanbul, as well as a large forest in the city,hunting for his body.
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Turkish media outlets have reported that the authorities here have audiotapes in which Khashoggi s alleged killers tortured him by cutting hisfingers off before his decapitation.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and top government figures have remainedcautious in their public statements, stopping short of pinning the blame onSaudi Arabia and referring instead to the prosecutors investigation.
After the Saudi admission on Saturday, Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan sruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said Ankara was not putting theblame on anyone in advance.
But they would not accept any cover-up, he added. “Turkey will revealwhatever had happened. Nobody should ever doubt it,” he said. – APP/AFP
