Turkey turns up heat on Saudis, shares recording of Khashoggi murder
The Turkish president discussed the Saudi journalist’s case with world leaders in Paris while Jamal Khashoggi’s friends gathered in Istanbul to honor his memory and demand justice.
ISTANBUL — Turkey has shared an audio recording of the final moments of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s life with its Western allies, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, as he continues to pile pressure on Riyadh to come clean about its suspected role in the killing at its Istanbul consulate.
Khashoggi, a columnist with the Washington Post who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, vanished after entering the Saudi Consulate on Oct. 2. Initially, the kingdom denied it knew of his whereabouts, but repeatedly changed its story as mounting evidence emerged and has since acknowledged he was killed at its mission in a premediated attack.
Saudi Arabia’s pivots were largely forced by Erdogan’s public pursuit of the case. Outraged by a brazen attack carried out in Turkey, he has refused to “turn a blind eye” and has argued that his government has an “international responsibility” to shed light on the murder.
Erdogan over the weekend confirmed for the first time the rumors that Turkish authorities possessed a recording of Khashoggi’s death and said it had been shared with officials from the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, Britain and Germany. It was not clear how Turkey obtained the audio.
