Jamal Khashoggi's death was the result of a brutal premeditated murder,
Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday in a highly anticipated speech, in which he flat-out denied
Saudi Arabia's claim that the journalist's killing was accidental.
"Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of a ferocious murder," Erdogan said, underlining that his killing was not spontaneous, but meticulously planned. "This kind of brutality is against the collective human conscience."
The President used the parliamentary address to reveal a handful of previously unconfirmed details about preparations made by Saudi operatives prior to Khashoggi's arrival at the consulate on October 2 -- the last time the Washington Post journalist was seen alive.
One day prior to Khashoggi's scheduled appointment, a team of three people flew into
Istanbul on a chartered plane from Riyadh, Erdogan said. Meanwhile, another Saudi team deployed from the consulate and carried out reconnaissance at two separate locations in Belgrad Forest, adjacent to Istanbul, and at Yalova city, about a 55 mile (90 kilometer) drive south of Istanbul.
Two other teams arrived on the morning of October 2, Erdogan said, with three people landing on a chartered plane and another group of nine by private jet, including generals.
Mere hours before Khashoggi arrived to obtain paperwork to marry his fiancee, cameras and a hard drive were removed from the Saudi consulate, Erdogan said.
"We stated that we would not remain silent and that we would take every step necessary for justice to be done," Erdogan said to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), two days after promising to reveal "the naked truth" of the Khashoggi case.
But there were some glaring omissions and few new details in the speech. Much of what Erdogan said in the parliamentary address has already appeared in media report and he made no reference to a previously reported audio recording from inside the consulate, or to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has become embroiled in the horrific scandal.
Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.
Erdogan called on the King of Saudi Arabia for the 18 Saudi suspects linked to Khashoggi's death be tried in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts, the Saudi government said on Friday that the journalist had indeed died in the kingdom's diplomatic compound in Istanbul. The Saudi story has shifted drastically since Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate on October 2; the official line is now that he was accidentally killed when a discussion with officials turned into a brawl.
Erdogan presented a very different version of events on Tuesday, speaking in Ankara as Saudi Arabia's flagship investment conference got underway in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Dozens of top business leaders from around the world have pulled out of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's showcase event, known as "Davos in the desert," as questions mount over the Saudi government's role in the death of the Washington Post columnist and US resident.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Sunday that Khashoggi's killing was part of a rogue operation and that his government would punish those responsible for his "murder."
But Turkish officials have maintained from the start that Khashoggi's death was "violently planned" ahead of time, carried out by a team of Saudi operatives dispatched to Istanbul, and subsequently covered up.
In the intervening weeks, Turkish officials have released a drip-feed of information related to their investigation into Khashoggi's murder, including surveillance footage shared exclusively with CNN that showed what a Turkish source described as a "body double" leaving the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the day Khashoggi died. The Saudi operative, said by the Turkish source to be one of a 15-man team sent from Saudi Arabia to kill Khashoggi, was wearing the journalist's clothes and was picked up on surveillance footage at locations around Istanbul.
Erdogan confirmed the body double in CNN's exclusive.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday that evidence uncovered during the investigation has yet to be shared with any country, according to Turkey state-run Anadolu News, but that Turkey was "ready to cooperate in a possible probe into Khashoggi case at UN, international courts."
"Jamal Khashoggi's killing is a violently planned and a very complicated murder, which was being covered up," Omer Celik, AKP spokesman, said at the party's headquarters in Ankara on Monday. "I hope those responsible for Khashoggi's killing are punished and no one ever thinks of repeating this."
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "The line our President put since the beginning of this case is very clear. The investigation will continue until the end."