Published on 12:00 AM, November 11, 2018

Erdogan shares Khashoggi tapes

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. File photo
  • Report says the Saudi journo's corpse went down the drains
  • Turkey 'end search' for Khashoggi's body

 

Turkey has shared recordings linked to the murder last month of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Riyadh, Washington and other capitals, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.

"We gave them the recordings, we gave them to Saudi Arabia, we gave them to Washington, to the Germans, to the French, to the British," he said in a televised speech.

"They listened to the conversations which took place here, they know," he said, but added that they were not accompanied by any written documents.

Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate on October 2 to obtain documents for his forthcoming marriage. After repeated denials, Saudi Arabia finally admitted the 59-year-old had been murdered at the mission in a "rogue" operation.

Turkish pro-government daily Sabah earlier yesterday reported Khashoggi's killers poured the remains of the insider-turned-critic of Riyadh down the drain after dissolving him in acid.

Samples taken from the consulate drains showed traces of acid, Sabah said without quoting sources for its story.

Meanwhile, sources told Al Jazeera yesterday that Turkish police ended the search for Khashoggi's body, but that the criminal investigation into the Saudi journalist's murder will continue.

Erdogan has accused the "highest levels" of the Saudi government of ordering the hit. Some officials have pointed the finger at the all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and some analysts say Ankara is keen to have the heir sidelined from the nexus of power in Riyadh.

Some Turkish media and officials had said for weeks that Ankara possessed an audio recording of the murder and had shared it with CIA head Gina Haspel when she visited Turkey late last month. But the existence of such a recording had not been officially confirmed.

Khashoggi's body has not been found, more than a month after the Washington Post columnist was killed. Yasin Aktay, an advisor to Erdogan, suggested last week that the body may have been dissolved.