Ankara Preparing To Initiate International Probe Into Khashoggi's Murder Soon - Cavusoglu

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has accused Western countries of "covering up" the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi because of their financial interests and announced that Ankara was preparing to initiate an international investigation into the case in the near future

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2019) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has accused Western countries of "covering up" the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi because of their financial interests and announced that Ankara was preparing to initiate an international investigation into the case in the near future.

"We see how those, who speak of freedom of press in the world, cover up this [Khashoggi's murder] when they see money ... We have made preparations for an international probe in the coming days. We will take the necessary steps," the foreign minister said at youth forum in Istanbul on Monday, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

Khashoggi, who worked as a columnist for The Washington Post newspaper and was a vocal critic of Saudi policies, went missing on October 2, 2018 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Riyadh initially denied any knowledge of the journalist's whereabouts, however, later in October, the Saudi authorities admitted that Khashoggi had died inside the consulate.

The Saudi Prosecutor General's Office later said that the journalist had been killed with a drug injection and his body had been dismembered and taken out of the consulate. Saudi authorities later charged total of 11 people with Khashoggi's assassination.

Ankara demands that the accused be extradited to Turkey and that Riyadh reveals where the journalist's remains can be found.