Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said an international investigation is absolutely necessary to shed light on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate General in İstanbul last month, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday.
In a speech in the Turkish Parliament, Çavuşoğlu said Turkey has been pursuing a transparent approach in the Saudi journalist’s murder thus far and that the entire world acknowledges this.
“At first, we said we have established a joint working team with Saudi Arabia and are not thinking of taking the [murder] case to an international court. However, at the point we find ourselves today, we see that an international investigation is a must. No matter what happens we will do our best so that all aspects of this murder are brought to light. Trying to cover it up or reaching an agreement [with Saudi Arabia over the murder] is out of the question,” said Çavuşoğlu.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of the Saudi government, was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his forthcoming marriage to a Turkish woman.
Turkish authorities — who say Khashoggi was murdered by a hit squad sent from Riyadh — are still searching for the journalist’s remains. Earlier this month, the chief public prosecutor’s office said Khashoggi’s body was dismembered after he was strangled, while the Washington Post reported investigators were looking into the theory that the body was dissolved in acid. A source close to the Saudi royal palace has denied any knowledge of the body’s whereabouts.
Saudi Arabia has presented an evolving narrative about what happened to Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen, when he entered the consulate to get papers for his wedding. Authorities initially denied all knowledge of his fate before later admitting that a group of rogue operators, many part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s inner circle, were responsible. Riyadh has maintained that neither bin Salman nor his father, King Salman, knew of the operation to target Khashoggi.