Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and then dismembered as part of a premeditated plan, Turkey's chief prosecutor said Wednesday, making details of the murder public for the first time.
A statement from chief Istanbul prosecutor's office also said that discussions with Saudi chief prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb have yielded no "concrete results" despite "good-willed efforts" by Turkey to uncover the truth.
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old columnist for The Washington Post, vanished after entering the consulate in Istanbul to pick up paperwork for his upcoming marriage to his fiancee, who was waiting for him outside. Saudi Arabia said he was killed in a fistfight, but Turkish officials said he was attacked and killed by a 15-man Saudi team.
Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family was a former newspaper editor in Saudi Arabia. He advised Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief, and has also been close to billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Middle East insiders say some deeper subplots played into Khashoggi’s death — ties to Saudi intelligence and his relationship with the Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman branded the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
The statement is the first public confirmation by a Turkish official that Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered after he entered the Saudi Consulate on Oct. 2.
