Erdogan Demands Proof That Missing Journalist Left Saudi Consulate Alive

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded Monday that Saudi Arabia defend its claim that missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul of his own volition, ramping up tensions between the nations as Khashoggi’s whereabouts remain unknown. The Washington Post reports that although Saudi officials have repeatedly insisted that Khashoggi left the consulate before he disappeared on Oct. 2, they have not yet produced evidence that proves it. “Do you not have cameras and everything of the sort?” Erdogan said. “They have all of them. Then why do you not prove this? You need to prove it.” Turkish officials and investigators have already expressed their belief that Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who has been a vocal critic of the Saudi regime, was instead murdered in the consulate by 15 Saudi men in a planned attack, and that his body may have later been dismembered and smuggled out of the consulate. Saudi Arabia called those claims “baseless,” the Post notes. And while the White House has stayed mum on the matter, senators have not: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wrote on Twitter Monday that “if there is any truth to the allegations of wrongdoing by the Saudi government it would be devastating to the US-Saudi relationship and there will be a heavy price to be paid—economically and otherwise.”

Turkey Reportedly Concludes Missing Saudi Journalist KilledMYSTERY

Roy Gutman, Pervaiz Shallwani