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Turkey says will search consulate where Saudi journalist vanished

By Ece Toksabay and Daren Butler

 

A still image taken from CCTV video and obtained by TRT World claims to show Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as he arrives at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey Oct. 2, 2018. Reuters TV/via REUTERS

 

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Tuesday it would search Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul where Saudijournalist Jamal Khashoggi vanished last week, and close ally Britain called on Riyadh to provide "urgent answers" over his disappearance.

 

Khashoggi was last seen one week ago entering the consulate in Istanbul to get documents related to his forthcoming marriage. His fiancee, waiting outside, said he never emerged and Turkish sources said they believe Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi policies, was killed inside the mission.

 

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan asked Saudi Arabia on Monday to prove its assertion that Khashoggi left the consulate.

 

The U.S. State Department said it did not know what happened to Khashoggi and whether he was alive or not.

 

"We don't know what has happened to him. We don't have any information on that," spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters adding: "We don't want to make any judgments about what happened."

 

Saudi Arabia has dismissed as baseless accusations that it killed or abducted Khashoggi, and on Tuesday Turkey's state-owned Anadolu agency said Riyadh had invited Turkish experts and other officials to visit the consulate.

 

Britain urged the Saudi government to explain what happened. "Just met the Saudi ambassador to seek urgent answers over Jamal Khashoggi," U.K. foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter.

 

"Violence against journalists worldwide is going up and is a grave threat to freedom of expression. If media reports prove correct, we will treat the incident seriously - friendships depend on shared values," he wrote.

 

Turkey's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said the investigation was "continuing intensively". The Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations allowed for consulates to be searched by authorities of a host country with consent of the mission chief, he said.

 

"The consulate building will be searched in the framework of the investigation," Aksoy said in a written statement.

 

There was no immediate comment on the report from the Saudi authorities.

 

News agency Anadolu later reported that a private plane that had arrived from Saudi Arabia at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport was searched last Tuesday, the day Khashoggi was last seen. The search proved fruitless and the plane took off again afterwards, it said.

 

A Turkish security source had previously told Reuters that a group of 15 Saudi nationals, including some officials, had arrived in Istanbul in two planes and entered the consulate on the same day Khashoggi was there, and later left the country.

 

It was not immediately clear if the Anadolu report referred to one of those aircraft.

 

"FORCED DISAPPEARANCE"

Khashoggi left Saudi Arabia last year saying he feared retribution for his criticism of Saudi policy over the Yemen war and its crackdown on dissent, and since then wrote columns for the Washington Post newspaper. His disappearance sparked global concern.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he plans to speak with the Saudis without elaborating. Speaking at the White House, he said he did not have details about Khashoggi's disappearance [L2N1WP0QF]

 

The U.N. human rights office urged both Turkey and Saudi Arabia to investigate what it called the "apparent enforced disappearance" and possible murder of Khashoggi.

 

"We call for cooperation between Turkey and Saudi Arabia to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the circumstances of Mr Khashoggi's disappearance and to make the findings public," U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a Geneva news briefing.

 

The two countries have such an obligation under both criminal law and international human rights law, she said.

 

In July, the U.N. human rights office called on Saudi Arabia to release all peaceful activists, including women held for campaigning against a ban on driving as it was being lifted.

 

Khashoggi was once a Saudi newspaper editor and is a familiar face on political talk shows on Arab satellite television networks. He used to advise Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States and Britain.

 

His disappearance is likely to further deepen divisions between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Relations were already strained after Turkey sent troops to the Gulf state of Qatar last year in a show of support after its Gulf neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, imposed an embargo on Doha.

 

The two Turkish sources told Reuters on Saturday that Turkish authorities believe Khashoggi was deliberately killed inside the consulate, a view echoed by one of Erdogan's advisers, Yasin Aktay, who is a friend of the Saudijournalist.

 

Erdogan told reporters on Sunday that authorities were examining camera footage and airport records as part of their investigation. He has also said Turkey has no documents or evidence regarding the case.

 

The European Union fully supports U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called on Riyadh to investigate Khashoggi's disappearance, EU policy chief Federica Mogherini said.

 

(Additional reporting by Sarah Dadouch and Ali Kucukgocmen in Istanbul, Andrew MacAskill in London, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Robert Rampton in Washington; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by William Maclean and Alison Williams)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-10

[Emster23]

Do they really think they will uncover anything? Like a body under the sink?

My cynical view is the search is to give cover to Turkish authorities, give appearance they are "doing something".

[Srikcir]

Check the walk-in freezer.

[TooPoopedToPop]

3 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Do they really think they will uncover anything? Like a body under the sink?

My cynical view is the search is to give cover to Turkish authorities, give appearance they are "doing something".

Have to agree.

This is a total farce - it's just for show.

Do they really think that if there was anything incriminating there that the Saudis' would let them come in?

[Morch]

3 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Do they really think they will uncover anything? Like a body under the sink?

My cynical view is the search is to give cover to Turkish authorities, give appearance they are "doing something".

 

Going through the motions. And yet, if they wouldn't, people would complain about them not conducting a "search" too. Obviously a problematic situation all around.

[Pedrogaz]

House of Saud, getting away with murder as usual. It is a reflection of our times that a single journalist merits more column inches than hundred of thousands of dead and starving children in Yemen. Instead of asking the Saudis to explain, why doesn't Trump and the rest of the hypocrites stop selling arms to be used in this illegal genocidal blockade.

Oh sorry, I forgot atrocities by Saudi or Israel are off limits for UK/US discussions. Nothing must come in the way of arms sales.

[JemJem]

Think about all the stuff that has happened since especially 5-6 years ago ? Any good reason to trust Erdogan, even in this matter ? I said Erdogan, not Turkey, because, as you all know, he controls almost everything in Turkey. 

 

It is sad that the West still aids the Erdogan regime in many ways.

[bristolboy]

2 hours ago, JemJem said:

Think about all the stuff that has happened since especially 5-6 years ago ? Any good reason to trust Erdogan, even in this matter ? I said Erdogan, not Turkey, because, as you all know, he controls almost everything in Turkey. 

 

It is sad that the West still aids the Erdogan regime in many ways.

If it were just Erdogan or his clique, you might have a point. Just because Erdogan is detestable, that doesn't mean that MbS isn't.

[dexterm]

OP..
"The European Union fully supports U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called on Riyadh to investigate Khashoggi's disappearance, EU policy chief Federica Mogherini said."

 

U.S. Intelligence Reportedly Knew of Saudi Plan to Capture Missing Journalist in Turkey

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that, according to a person familiar with the communications, which were intercepted before he vanished, U.S. intelligence knew about a Saudi plan to capture dissident and Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/u-s-intelligence-knew-of-saudi-plan-to-capture-journalist-in-turkey-1.6547009

 

Sort of makes Trump's and Pompeo's calls to investigate and shock at Saudis' abduction/murder? ring somewhat hollow.

Edited October 10, 2018 by dexterm

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, dexterm said:

Sort of makes Trump's and Pompeo's calls to investigate and shock at Saudis' abduction/murder? ring somewhat hollow.

Information is coming quicker than these calls.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Tuesday that “everything today points to” the idea that Saudi journalist and legal U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was murdered last week inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Saudi ambassador to the U.S., who told him that the surveillance video outside the consulate only live-streams and does not record.

“I’ve never ever heard of a security system like that,”

The Washington Post obtained a screenshot that appears to show Khashoggi walking into the consulate last Tuesday.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/saudi-story-about-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-doesnt-hold-up-says-bob-corker-everything-points-to-murde

If US intelligence knew of a Saudi Plan to capture Jamal, what happened to that information and what was done in reaction to it if confirmed? 

[Morch]

4 hours ago, JemJem said:

Think about all the stuff that has happened since especially 5-6 years ago ? Any good reason to trust Erdogan, even in this matter ? I said Erdogan, not Turkey, because, as you all know, he controls almost everything in Turkey. 

 

It is sad that the West still aids the Erdogan regime in many ways.

 

Other than your stock Erdogan bashing (no issues with that per se), where's the relevance? It might be hard to contemplate, but Erdogan being a _________ (fill choice of description here) doesn't have a whole lot to do with things. It happened in Turkey because the guy was there due to personal reasons and the Saudis figuring they could pull it off. It might have been another location if circumstances were different.

 

Not too clear what you're suggesting exactly - not trust Erdogan and accept SA's version (such as it is)?

 

I don't think that the "West" actually "aids" Erdogan directly. The "West" does have some key interests, and since, as you point out, Erdogan is in charge, the "West" deals with him. I'm positive most Western leaders would be happy if they had a better choice.

[Morch]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Information is coming quicker than these calls.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Tuesday that “everything today points to” the idea that Saudi journalist and legal U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was murdered last week inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Saudi ambassador to the U.S., who told him that the surveillance video outside the consulate only live-streams and does not record.

“I’ve never ever heard of a security system like that,”

The Washington Post obtained a screenshot that appears to show Khashoggi walking into the consulate last Tuesday.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/saudi-story-about-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-doesnt-hold-up-says-bob-corker-everything-points-to-murde

If US intelligence knew of a Saudi Plan to capture Jamal, what happened to that information and what was done in reaction to it if confirmed? 

 

Assuming the reports about US intelligence agencies having information regarding this is accurate - doubt there were plenty of good options, even if there was much motivation. Making it public would have caused a diplomatic crisis with SA, and the same goes for discussing intercepted traffic with the Saudis. Giving Turkey a warning? Relations are at low, and Erdogan could not be trusted to use such information against both SA and the US. The only half-plausible course of action (which may or may not have been taken) was to provide Khashoggi with a private warning - but then again, not that he was unaware of dangers, and according to his fiance, wasn't too worried about visiting the consulate. Whether he would have taken heed (and whether he would have kept the information private) is a good question.

 

I'm sure that with the level of US snooping, information regarding such nefarious intentions and plans is being intercepted as a matter of routine. Is the US supposed to act on each and every case? Doubt it. If the guy wasn't well-connected, and the two countries involved weren't generally disliked, it would have been less of a story.