Turkey says Khashoggi murder 'savagely planned'

October 22, 2018 19:54

The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Riyadh's Istanbul consulate was "savagely planned", Turkey's ruling party spokesman said on Monday, the first official indication from Ankara it believes a plot was hatched in advance.

"This was extremely savagely planned, and we are faced with a situation where there has been a lot of effort to whitewash this," Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik told reporters in Ankara.

"This is a very complicated murder," Celik said, warning that the Turkish government would not be drawn into speculation. "Everyone (else) can speculate but we cannot speculate," Celik added.

He also dismissed claims of "bargaining" between Saudi Arabia and Turkey as "immoral".

Riyadh said on Saturday that Khashoggi, a former regime insider turned dissident, died during a "brawl" inside the consulate after a visit on October 2 to get documents.

It added 18 Saudis were arrested in connection with his death and two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as three other intelligence agents, were fired.

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