Erdogan Says Saudis Planned Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Turkish president vows to identify all culprits ‘from the lowest to the highest rank’
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to identify any high-ranking Saudi officials who ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as the kingdom’s powerful crown prince attended an investment conference that opened under a cloud cast by the crisis.
Mr. Erdogan challenged the kingdom’s narrative that Mr. Khashoggi died in a brawl on Oct. 2, saying the killing in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul was premeditated and conducted by 15 operatives who had come from Riyadh.
“All the responsible people, from the lowest to the highest rank, should be uncovered and held accountable before the law,” Mr. Erdogan said in an address to lawmakers from his ruling party, adding that it wasn’t possible “to put the blame on a few security and intelligence officials.”
At the investment conference, which many foreign executives backed out of after Mr. Khashoggi disappeared, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made his first public appearance since the crisis erupted. He was scheduled to speak publicly at the conference on Wednesday morning.
Prince Mohammed and his father, King Salman, also met with two relatives of Mr. Khashoggi and “expressed their sincerest condolences,” Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Tuesday.
Among them was Mr. Khashoggi’s son Salah, one of the journalist’s four adult children and the only one in Saudi Arabia. After Mr. Khashoggi left the kingdom last year, the Saudi government banned Salah from leaving the country in an apparent effort to put pressure on the critic, according to people familiar with the matter.
Saudi officials didn’t respond to requests for comment. It wasn’t known whether the government has lifted the travel ban on Salah in the wake of his father’s death.
The Saudi government said Tuesday that the kingdom had taken measures to “uncover the truth and hold people responsible accountable.”
In response to mounting pressure, the kingdom’s leadership has doubled down on efforts to insulate the crown prince from the fallout of the crisis. In a clear sign the prince was unlikely to suffer direct repercussions, King Salman on Saturday tasked his 33-year-old son with overhauling Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency.
“The top priority is to protect MBS,” said a Western official briefed on the Saudi government’s thinking, referring to the prince by his initials.
In his only public comment on the case, an interview with Bloomberg conducted on Oct. 3, Prince Mohammed said Mr. Khashoggi had left the consulate alive. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Sunday called the targeting of Mr. Khashoggi a “rogue operation” and said Prince Mohammed wasn’t aware of it.
With U.S. officials, including President Trump, saying they aren’t satisfied with Saudi Arabia’s explanations of how Mr. Khashoggi died, Turkish officials say the scandal provides Ankara with an opportunity to weaken the kingdom’s standing and that of Prince Mohammed.
Ultimately, the Turkish officials said, Mr. Erdogan would like the Saudi leader, King Salman, to pick a different heir.
Prince Mohammed doesn’t appear to feel pressure from Mr. Erdogan and believes his friendship with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will help him survive, say people close to the royal family. The prince’s father, King Salman, is confident his son will weather the crisis and remain popular, the people said.
“He thinks the whole world will get tired of this story,” one of the people said.
Tensions have grown between Turkey and Saudi Arabia since Mr. Erdogan backed Qatar in its dispute with Riyadh last year. Mr. Erdogan has also been angered by Mr. Trump’s decision to forge a closer military alliance with Saudi Arabia that has left Turkey, Washington’s ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, isolated.
Mr. Erdogan’s speech on Tuesday, which marked the first time the Turkish president has discussed Saudi Arabia’s responsibility for the death of the journalist, came short of his weekend pledge to reveal the facts “in their naked truth.”
In particular, the president didn’t discuss what Turkish officials have described as a central piece of intelligence in their probe: an audio recording they say proves how Mr. Khashoggi was beaten, drugged and killed inside the consulate, before his body was dismembered.
Still, he mentioned evidence that Saudi officials tampered with the CCTV system of the consulate and went to a forest in northern Istanbul before Mr. Khashoggi was killed, suggesting Turkish authorities may have more revelations.
“We have strong evidence that this murder was planned,” Mr. Erdogan said. “He was brutally murdered.”
Mr. Erdogan said a criminal investigation into the journalist’s death would continue, adding prosecutors would seek to identify possible accomplices in foreign countries. He said he wanted 18 people Saudi authorities have detained in connection with the case to be tried in Istanbul.
“This murder may have taken place in the Saudi consulate building, but it should not be forgotten that this is within the Turkish republic’s borders,” Mr. Erdogan said.
The people close to the royal family said Saudi Arabia won’t accede to Mr. Erdogan’s demands to turn over suspects for trial in Turkey.
At the investment conference, Prince Mohammed sat in the audience, accompanied by King Abdullah II of Jordan, one of Saudi Arabia’s closest regional allies. Prince Mohammed is scheduled to speak publicly at the conference on Wednesday morning.
As Western executives and officials pulled out of the conference, of which Prince Mohammed is the chief patron, Saudi Arabia has relied on leaders from allied countries to show their support.
Prince Mohammed last week personally invited Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was among Tuesday’s speakers. Pakistan recently asked Saudi Arabia to provide it with financial aid to help address an urgent balance-of-payments crisis.
Corrections & Amplifications
King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with two relatives of Mr. Khashoggi, one of whom was a son. An earlier version incorrectly said they met with two sons of Mr. Khashoggi. (Oct. 23, 2018)