Turkey believes Saudis killed journalist, critic

People gather in support of missing Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul. Photo / AP

Turkey has concluded that Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent journalist from Saudi Arabia, was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last week by a Saudi team sent "specifically for the murder", two people with knowledge of the probe said yesterday.

Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team "came from Saudi Arabia. It was a preplanned murder", said one of the people. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

They offered no specific evidence to back up the account. Earlier yesterday, however, Turkey's Anadolu news agency said the Istanbul public prosecutor's office had opened a probe into Khashoggi's disappearance. Turkish authorities have said he never left the consulate.

Saudi Arabia had vehemently denied that Khashoggi, a Washington Post writer critical of the Saudi royal family, was detained after he entered the mission.

In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Khashoggi had left the consulate shortly after he arrived on Tuesday. Saudi officials have yet to provide any evidence for that assertion.

The Saudi consul-general in Istanbul allowed reporters from the Reuters news agency to tour the consulate Saturday, to show that Khashoggi was not inside.

The conflicting accounts appeared certain to deepen a rift between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who have both competed for influence in the region.

The killing, if confirmed, would mark a startling escalation of Saudi Arabia's effort to silence dissent. Under direction from the crown prince, Saudi authorities have carried out hundreds of arrests under the banner of national security, rounding up clerics, business executives and even women's rights advocates.