ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday met with a United Nations judicial expert who is looking into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Ankara calls for an international inquiry.
The UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, will be in Turkey until Saturday for a series of meetings with authorities, including the Istanbul chief prosecutor.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and Saudi regime critic, was murdered on Oct. 2 in Turkey in what Riyadh called a ”rogue” operation, tipping the kingdom into one of its worst diplomatic crises.
Turkish authorities have called for an international probe into the killing which took place at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, complaining of Saudi Arabia’s failure to cooperate.
”Met with @AgnesCallamard, #UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions, who is in #Turkey to investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter, sharing a picture from his meeting in Ankara.
In an interview with Turkish media last week, Cavusoglu said the Khashoggi case was ”not a part of bilateral ties” with Riyadh.
”We believe this case should be brought to the international arena,” he said.
”It is time for an international probe.”
Nearly four months later, the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body remains unknown and Turkish officials accuse Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of orchestrating the killing – an allegation Saudi authorities categorically refute.
