ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking during his party's parliamentary group meeting at the Grand National Assembly yesterday. – AFP

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that the “savage murder” of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was meticulously planned, demanding that all those linked to the killing face punishment. Erdogan had promised that his speech in Ankara would give the “naked truth” about the killing and he gave a host of new details. But he still acknowledged Turkey wanted answers to key questions, including who gave the orders.

Vice President Mike Pence vowed that the United States would “demand answers” from Riyadh. Erdogan outlined the steps taken by what he said was a 15 person team who came from Riyadh planning to kill Khashoggi, including carrying out reconnaissance outside Istanbul and then deactivating security cameras at the consulate. He said that 18 suspects already detained by Saudi Arabia should be extradited to Istanbul to face trial over the killing and called for an investigation into those who have “even the slightest link” to the “savage murder”.

But Erdogan did not confirm or even mention some of the most striking claims that appeared in the Turkish press over the last days, notably that Khashoggi’s body was cut up into multiple pieces or that there is an audio recording of the murder. The president himself admitted that several questions remain unanswered. “These (15) people, from whom did they get orders? ... We are seeking answers,” he asked. “Why when the murder was clear, why were so many inconsistent statements made?”

Erdogan did not mention Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by name in the speech. But he said he was confident of the full cooperation of his father Saudi King Salman in the probe and vowed full retribution for all those guilty of the “savage murder”. “The conscience of humanity will only be satisfied when those who ordered (the murder) and those who carried it out answer for their actions.”

Erdogan confirmed that a Saudi official played the role of body double for Khashoggi, wearing his clothes in a bid to show that the journalist had left the consulate. The whereabouts of Khashoggi’s corpse is still unknown. Turkish police were searching an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate in an underground car park in the Sultangazi district of Istanbul. Investigators found some of Khashoggi’s personal possessions in the vehicle, broadcaster CNN Turk said.

Erdogan said the killing was planned from when the 59-year-old Khashoggi first went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Sept 28 to obtain documents necessary for his marriage. He was told he would need to come back later to collect the documents. On Oct 1, a day before Khashoggi’s death, agents arrived from overseas and began to scout locations, including the Belgrad Forest near Istanbul and the city of Yalova to its south, Erdogan said. Police have searched both areas for evidence of Khashoggi’s remains. On the day Khashoggi arrived for his appointment and was later killed, the hard disk in the consulate’s camera system was removed, Erdogan said.

Jana Jabbour, a professor at Sciences Po university in Paris, told AFP that Erdogan could have chosen much sharper rhetoric against Riyadh, indicating that the two nations were talking behind the scenes. “Erdogan’s very moderate speech shows that a deal has been reached,” she told AFP.

“The word from President Erdogan this morning that this brutal murder was premeditated, pre-planned days in advance flies in the face of earlier assertions that had been made by the Saudi regime,” US Vice President Mike Pence told an event at The Washington Post. CIA Director Gina Haspel, meanwhile, headed for Turkey, although details of her trip were not immediately clear. In London, a Downing Street spokesman said Erdogan’s statement showed that “there are many questions which only the Saudis have the answers to.”  - Agencies