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Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Saudi officials planned 'savage' murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said evidence suggests dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi "was the victim of a very cruel murder".

The Turkish president claimed Saudi officials planned the "savage" murder of Mr Khashoggi in the days before his death.

He alleged his killing was intricately planned, with Saudi operatives taking the step of removing CCTV hard drives from the Saudi embassy in Istanbul before the killing took place.

Mr Erdogan said "no stone should be left unturned" in the investigation into the killing of Mr Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the leadership of Saudi Arabia.

The Turkish president was greeted by applause on Tuesday morning (REUTERS)
The Turkish president was greeted by applause on Tuesday morning (REUTERS)

Talking about the day of the alleged murder on October 2, Mr Erdogan said a group of 15 Saudis arrived at the consulate between 9.50am and 11am.

He claimed they took the hard disc out of the consulate’s CCTV system before Mr Khashoggi’s arrived for his appointment.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses parliament in Ankara (AP)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses parliament in Ankara (AP)

The parliament also heard that the Saudis used a "body double" as a decoy after Mr Khashoggi was killed.

Mr Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia's King Salman to allow 18 suspects in the killing to be tried in Turkish courts and said they should be "held responsible in front of the law".

Turkey's president says Saudi officials started planning to murder Mr Khashoggi days before his death (AP)
Turkey's president says Saudi officials started planning to murder Mr Khashoggi days before his death (AP)

He did not offer any new evidence in his speech to parliament, with no mention any audio or video recordings.

However, he claimed the murder was "planned" and said he is looking for answers to questions such as "why have those 15 people got together in Istanbul on the day of the murder?"

He added: "Why and who have instructed these people? Why was the consulate not straight away opened for search?"

The president also questioned why different statements were made by Saudi officials before asking: "Why is the corpse of a murdered person still missing?"

Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Mr Erdogan had promised details of Jamal Khashoggi's killing would "be revealed in all its nakedness" in his address before parliament.

He said “nothing will remain a secret” after weeks of leaks from Turkish police which suggested Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, must have known about an alleged premeditated murder.

Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi royal family living in the United States, died on October 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia confirmed on Saturday that the Washington Post columnist had died in Istanbul, suggesting it came after an argument and a fist fight in the kingdom’s consulate.

Mr Erdogan’s announcement was expected to cast doubts on the claims from the Arab state, which initially suggested Mr Khashoggi was alive when he left the consulate.

Turkish media and officials say the 59-year-old Washington Post columnist was killed and dismembered by a 15-man Saudi hit squad.

"We are faced with a situation in which it was a brutally planned (killing) and efforts were made to cover it up," said Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party said before Erdogan's announcement.

"God willing, the results will be brought into the open, those responsible will be punished and no one will dare think of carrying out such a thing again."

The Saudi kingdom's announcement that Khashoggi died in a "fist fight" was met with international scepticism and allegations of a cover-up to absolve the 33-year-old crown prince of direct responsibility.

Turkish media reports and officials maintain that a 15-member Saudi team flew to Istanbul on October 2, knowing Khashoggi would enter the consulate to get a document he needed to get married.

Once he was inside, the Saudis accosted Khashoggi, cut off his fingers, killed and dismembered the 59-year-old writer, according to Turkish media.

Surveillance video on CNN showed a man in Khashoggi's dress shirt, suit jacket and pants, although he wore a different pair of shoes.

It cited a Turkish official as describing the man as a "body double" and a member of the Saudi team sent to Istanbul to target the writer.

CCTV image purportedly showing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul (AP)
CCTV image purportedly showing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul (AP)

The man walks out of the consulate via its back exit with an accomplice, then takes a taxi to Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque, where he goes to a public bathroom, changes back out of the clothes and leaves.

The man was seen later eating dinner before going back to a hotel, where footage shows him smiling and laughing.

The state-run broadcaster TRT later also reported that a man who entered the consulate was seen leaving the building in Khashoggi's clothes.

In the days after Khashoggi vanished, Saudi officials initially said he had left the consulate by its back door.

Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Prince Khalid bin Salman, a brother of the crown prince, later wrote that Khashoggi left and that claims the kingdom "have detained him or killed him are absolutely false, and baseless."

The fact that the Saudi team would allegedly have a man walking around in Khashoggi's clothes would suggest a premeditated plot to kill the writer.

A report on Monday by newspaper Yeni Safak said Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a member of Prince Mohammed's entourage seen on trips to the US, France and Spain this year, made the calls from the consulate.

The newspaper said the four calls went to Bader al-Asaker, the head of Prince Mohammed's office. It said another call went to the United States.

Yeni Safak cited no source for the information.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman (PA)
Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman (PA)

Yeni Safak reported last week that Saudi officials cut off Khashoggi's fingers and then decapitated him at the consulate as his fiancée waited outside.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters that he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since Mr Khashoggi's death.

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, he said: "I am not satisfied with what I've heard regarding Khashoggi's death.

"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,"

"We're going to know a lot over the next two days about the Saudi situation," added President Trump, who spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday. "It's a very sad thing."