Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled
as soon as he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul as part of a premeditated
killing, and his body was dismembered before being disposed of, a top Turkish
prosecutor said Wednesday.
A statement from chief Istanbul prosecutor
Irfan Fidan's office also said that discussions with Saudi chief prosecutor
Saud al-Mojeb have yielded no "concrete results" despite
"good-willed efforts" by Turkey to uncover the truth.
The statement is the first public confirmation
by a Turkish official that Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered after he
entered the Saudi Consulate on Oct. 2 to collect paperwork needed to marry his
Turkish fiancee.
The announcement came as Saudi Arabia's chief
prosecutor, Saud al-Mojeb, ended a three-day visit to Istanbul during which he
held talks with Fidan and other Turkish officials.
Turkey is seeking the extradition of 18 Saudi
suspects detained in Saudi Arabia over the killing of Khashoggi. It is also
pressing Saudi Arabia for information concerning Khashoggi's remains, which
still haven't been found, as well as who ordered the journalist's slaying.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also called on Riyadh to disclose
the identity of an alleged local collaborator said to have been involved in
disposing of Khashoggi's body.
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old columnist for The
Washington Post, vanished after entering the consulate in Istanbul to pick up
paperwork for his upcoming marriage to his fiancee, who was waiting for him
outside. A critic of the Saudi royal family, Khashoggi had been living in exile
in the United States.
Turkey alleges a Saudi hit squad - including a
member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage during a trip to
the United States - traveled to Istanbul to kill the journalist and then tried
to cover it up.
Under mounting pressure, Saudi Arabia changed
its narrative about Khashoggi's killing several times, eventually admitting
that Khashoggi died inside the consulate and only recently acknowledging that
Turkish evidence shows his killing was premeditated.
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