Turkey yesterday said it wanted 18 Saudis extradited over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara still had more evidence to reveal in the case, reports AFP. The announcement came a day after the Saudi prosecutor said that based on evidence supplied by Turkey the murder appeared to have been premeditated -- the first time Saudi authorities had made such an admission. In a speech in Ankara, Erdogan said Saudi Arabia's chief prosecutor would visit Istanbul on Sunday to speak to Turkish authorities as part of the investigation. Saudi authorities earlier arrested 18 men wanted by Ankara following an international furore over the death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Saudi policies, who was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
The killing has tainted the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has positioned himself as a Saudi reformer, and tested ties between Washington and Riyadh as Western powers demand answers over Khashoggi's death. A written request for the extradition of the 18 suspects had been prepared by Istanbul's chief prosecutor.
"It is clear that the judicial system in Turkey is better equipped to genuinely serve the cause of justice in this case," a senior Turkish official said, because Khashoggi was "murdered in Turkey by Saudi nationals who travelled to Turkey for this specific purpose". Erdogan on Friday called on Riyadh to reveal who ordered the killing and the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body. "You need to show this body," Erdogan said.
The Turkish president, who has stopped short of directly blaming the Saudi government, said that the 18 suspects must know who killed Khashoggi and repeated his call for the men to be tried in Turkey.
"The culprit is among them. If that is not the case, then who is the local conspirator? You have to tell," he said. "Unless you tell, Saudi Arabia will not be free from this suspicion."
Meanwhile, the eldest son of the murdered Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, has arrived in the US from Saudi Arabia along with his family, BBC adds.
Salah Khashoggi had previously been barred from leaving Saudi Arabia because of his father’s criticism of the country’s leadership.
Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul three weeks ago, investigators say.
Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is due to travel to Turkey on Sunday.
Saudi officials deny the involvement of the royal family, including de factor ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the murder.
But Russia has said the royal family should be believed.
“No-one should have any reasons not to believe them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
His comments contrast with doubts among Saudi Arabia’s Western allies as Riyadh has changed its version of what happened in the consulate on 2 October several times.
Russia is making clear who it is siding with, says the BBC’s
Mark Lowen in Istanbul, in another sign of the wide
geopolitical repercussions stemming from this murder. What do we know about Salah Khashoggi?
Two days before arriving in the US, Salah Khashoggi was pictured receiving condolences from Crown Prince Mohammed.
He briefly shook hands with the royal and gave what many see as a cold stare during Tuesday’s apparently staged meeting. Some are suggesting the public display may have been the price for being allowed to leave the country.
A US spokesman said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had told Saudi leaders that he wanted Salah Khashoggi, a dual US-Saudi citizen, to be able to return to the US and was “pleased” that he had been allowed to do so.
Sources close to the Khashoggis told Reuters that he and his family arrived on a flight from Saudi Arabia and joined his mother and three siblings in Washington.
It is not clear how long Salah Khashoggi plans to stay in the US. The Saudi public prosecutor, Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb, will be meeting his Turkish counterpart in Istanbul.
The move was announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a televised speech.
Turkey also had other evidence which had not yet been disclosed, Mr Erdogan said.
And he called on Saudi Arabia to disclose the location of Jamal Khashoggi’s body, as well as the name of an alleged “local co-operator” involved in disposing of it.
The Saudi prosecutor said on Thursday that the killing was premeditated, in a further development of the Saudi narrative.
Saudi officials have also blamed “rogue” agents, and, when Mr Khashoggi first disappeared, maintained he had left the consulate unharmed. CIA director Gina Haspel is now back in the US - Saudi Arabia’s closest Western ally - after a visit to Turkey where she was briefed by investigators. She has briefed President Donald Trump.