As you're reading this be mindful Erdogan's track record is no better than the Saudi's.
President Trump sends top intelligence officials to Turkey as Turkish President Erdogan prepares to announce his country's findings into the death of Jamal Khashoggi; insight from former CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman.
Saudi officials planned the savage murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi days before his death, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.
Erdogan revealed the details of the country’s investigation into Khashoggi’s killing after he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Erdogan laid out a timeline of the events before and after Khashoggi’s death, including the use of a “body double” as a decoy.
Three people flew from Riyadh to Istanbul at around 4:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 1 and went to the hotel and later to the Saudi consulate, Erdogan said, according to Sky News. Another team went from the consulate to Belgrave woods and Yelova, near the consulate, to scout the area, he said.
The next day, Erdogan said, a team of about 15 Saudis met at the consulate between 9:50 a.m. and 11 a.m. He said the team took out the “hard disc” from the consulate’s CCTV and called Khashoggi to let him know he had a meeting at the consulate later in the day.
Khashoggi arrived at the consulate at around 1:08 p.m. local time and was never seen again, Erdogan said. Almost five hours later, Khashoggi’s fiancé alerted authorities that he had been detained or worse.
In his speech, Erdogan suggested Khashoggi was the victim of a “gruesome murder” and said there could be no cover-up.
“I do not doubt the sincerity of King Salman. That being said, independent investigation needs to be carried out. This is a political killing,” Erdogan said, adding Khashoggi’s death was meticulously planned.
Erdogan fell short of blaming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and made no mention of whether a tape exists of Khashoggi's killing. Instead, he said Turkey would only be satisfied once everyone is penalized.
"Trying to blame a few members of the intelligence community will not satisfy us or the international community. It will be satisfactory only when everyone responsible for this is penalized," he said.
Erdogan’s comments contradicted Saudi Arabia’s claim the columnist died in a “fistfight.” Saudi Arabia said 18 Saudis were arrested and several top intelligence officials were fired over the killing.
President Trump said Monday he wasn’t satisfied with the explanations he’s heard about the killing of Khashoggi and was waiting for reports from U.S. officials returning from the region.
“We're going to get to the bottom of it. We have people over in Saudi Arabia now. We have top intelligence people in Turkey. They're coming back either tonight or tomorrow,” Trump told the media before leaving a rally in Texas.
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