Khashoggi, a critic of de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, was killed in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a hit which Erdogan says was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.
The Washington Post columnist was killed by a team of men who flew from Riyadh to ambush him during a marriage paperwork appointment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
His body, which investigators believe was cut up and dissolved in acid at the nearby consul general’s house, has not been found.
Six weeks after Khashoggi’s death, Turkey is trying to keep up pressure on Prince Mohamed and has released a stream of evidence that undermined Riyadh’s early denials of involvement.
Prince Mohamed won support yesterday from US National Security Adviser John Bolton, who said he did not think recordings of the killing shared by Turkey implicated the young crown prince.
Erdogan told reporters on his plane returning from a weekend visit to France that he discussed the Saudi journalist’s killing with the US, French and German leaders there, adding that Turkey had played the recording to at least six countries.
“We played the recordings regarding this murder to everyone who wanted them from us. Our intelligence organisation did not hide anything. We played them to all who wanted them including the Saudis, the USA, France, Canada, Germany, Britain,” he said.
On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the first Western leader to confirm the tapes’ existence, telling reporters in Paris that Canadian officials had listened to them.
“The recordings are really appalling. Indeed, when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings, he was so shocked that he said: ‘This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this’,” the Turkish president added.
Khashoggi’s murder has provoked global outrage but little concrete action by major powers against Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and a strong proponent of US policy to contain Iranian influence across the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump has expressed reluctance to punish Saudi Arabia economically, citing its multi-billion-dollar purchases of military equipment and investments in US firms.
Bolton said he did not think that people who heard the recordings concluded that the crown prince was linked to the killing.
“And certainly that is not the position of the Saudi government,” he said in Singapore.
Asked again if the audio tape provided by Turkey did not link Prince Mohamed to the killing in any way, Bolton said: “I haven’t listened to the tape myself but in the assessment of those who have listened to it, that is right.”
Bolton shares with Saudi Arabia a hawkish stance against Riyadh’s biggest Middle East rival Iran, and he championed Washington’s resumption of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
He emphasised that Trump has demanded a full investigation from the Saudis and for those responsible to be held accountable.
“The president has made it very clear that he expects we’re going to get the truth from the Saudis – and the king and the crown prince, in the conversations they’ve had with the president, have committed to that,” Bolton said.
The New York Times, in a report confirmed by a Turkish official, said that a member of the Saudi team which was sent to Istanbul to kill Khashoggi told one of his superiors after the killing to “tell your boss” – which the newspaper said was believed to be a reference to Prince Mohamed.
The individual was identified as Maher Mutreb, who reports to an aide to the crown prince, Saud al-Qahtani.
Mutreb was also quoted as saying words to the effect that “the deed was done”.
In his comments to reporters, Erdogan said it was clear the killing was planned and that the order came from the top level of Saudi authorities, but that he could not think such a thing of King Salman, for whom he has “limitless respect”.
“The crown prince says ‘I will clarify the matter, I will do what is necessary’. We are waiting patiently,” Erdogan said, adding that the perpetrators of the killing were among 18 suspects detained in Saudi Arabia. “It must be revealed who gave them the order to murder.”
Last month two separate intelligence sources told Reuters that al-Qahtani gave orders over Skype to Khashoggi’s killers at the consulate.
More recently, a government source familiar with the matter said al-Qahtani featured prominently throughout the recordings.
Saudi state media said that King Salman sacked him and other officials over the killing, and a senior Saudi official said last month that al-Qahtani had been detained.
But four sources based in the Gulf told Reuters this week that he was still at liberty and continued to operate discreetly.
“He still has the same influence,” one of the sources said.
Al-Qahtani has wielded that influence over the last three years, with his authority growing alongside that of the prince.
He ran social media for Prince Mohamed, masterminded the arrest of hundreds of Saudi Arabia’s elite late last year in a campaign that Riyadh said was aimed at rooting out corruption, and took a harsh line against neighbouring Qatar when Saudi Arabia imposed an economic boycott of the Gulf state in June 2017.
He also supervised the brief detention of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri last year.
Turkey’s pro-government newspaper Sabah reported yesterday that the luggage of the Saudi team that was sent to Istanbul at the time of Khashoggi’s killing contained syringes, large scissors, staple guns, walkie-talkies, electric shock devices, and a signal jammer.
It published photos of X-rays of bags taken as the Saudis passed through security checks at the airport when they left.
Reuters could not immediately verify the Sabah report.
Saudi Arabia initially denied any knowledge or involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, but Saudi public prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb later said it was planned in advance.
Another Saudi official said that Prince Mohamed had no knowledge of the specific operation.
