Turkey Prez Erdogan to reveal ‘naked truth’ of Saudi journalist’s murder

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he will make statements about murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his party's parliamentary group meeting to take place on Tuesday, October 23.

Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Speaking at an event in Istanbul on Sunday, Erdogan stated that Turkey seeks justice and will reveal the "naked truth", reports Xinhua news agency.

"Why did 15 people come here (from Saudi Arabia) and why were 18 people arrested? I'm going to tell you in a very different way on Tuesday. We're going to go into detail," he said.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday, October 20, admitted that Khashoggi was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul and 18 people were arrested over their alleged connections to the killing as a result of an internal investigation into the case.

Turkey earlier said 15 Saudis who travelled to Istanbul were involved in Khashoggi's disappearance.

Turkish police and crime scene investigators conducted searches in the Saudi consulate, the residence of the Saudi Consul General as well as a forest in Istanbul, trying to find the body of Khashoggi, who has been missing since entering the Saudi consulate on October 2.

Saudi king, crown prince send condolences to Khashoggi´s son

The King of Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince sent their condolences to a son of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist who died at his country's consulate in Istanbul, Saudi state media reported.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Sunday, October 22, that the Monarch, Salman bin Abdulaziz, and his son, Mohammed bin Salman, telephoned Salah Jamal Khashoggi to express their condolences, reports Efe news.

Salah thanked the king and expressed his "sincere gratitude" to Prince Mohammed for the calls, according to separate press releases published by the SPA.

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said in an interview with US television channel Fox on the same day that Prince Mohammed had no knowledge of Khashoggi's death.

In that interview, al-Jubeir described the death of Khashoggi as "a grave mistake" and said that those responsible will be held to account.

The Saudi authorities at first denied the death of the regime-critical journalist.

On Saturday, the Saudi authorities said that Khashoggi died in the course of a "fight" with agents who were trying to interrogate him in the legation.

The UK, France and Germany said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia's version of Khashoggi's death needs to be supported by "facts" to be considered "credible".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the suspension of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia on the grounds that they cannot be done under the "current circumstances", in reference to the Khashoggi case.