President Erdogan demanded answers about the killing of the writer on October 2 as he asked why “the corpse of a murdered person is still missing” during a statement to his country’s parliament in Ankara.
He called on Saudi Arabia to “admit this murder” and called for the killers to be revealed following the “savage” death as he said they should not be able to hide behind diplomatic immunity.
The president said: “Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of a very cruel murder.
“The information and evidences uncovered so far show that Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered. Covering up such a brutal act would wound the conscience of all mankind.”
The Turkish leader told how a Saudi team of 15 entered the consulate on the day of the killing after three people landed in Istanbul the day before Khashoggi’s murder.
President Erdogan revealed Khashoggi visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on September 28 at 11.50am to collect papers for his wedding before word got to the team that “planned and murdered him”.
He described the team as “intelligence, security and forensic personnel” who had scouted the area before killing the writer.
He warned attempts to blame it on intelligence operatives, after Riyadh has suggested it was a rogue operation, “will not satisfy us”.
In a speech to parliament, Erdogan did not mention Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who some US lawmakers suspect ordered the killing.
But he said Turkey would not complete its investigation into Khashoggi’s death until all questions were answered.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, disappeared three weeks ago after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.
Officials suspect Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate by Saudi agents.
Turkish sources say authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the killing of the 59-year-old.
The Turkish leader told how the hard drive was removed from the CCTV cameras in the consulate and claimed camera footage showed the journalist never left the consulate.
He also called for diplomatic action after the murder after he revealed a body double had been employed in the hours after Khashoggi’s death to make it look like the writer had left the consulate.
He told how Saudis claimed Khashoggi “died in a melee”.
Speaking to his AK Party at parliament, President Erdogan said that he does not doubt the Saudi King Salman’s sincerity, without elaborating.
He also said the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body were still unknown and he demanded Saudi Arabia to reveal the identity of a “local cooperator” who purportedly took the body.
Turkey has now been in contact with the Saudi King and work to create a joint working group that has begun investigations.
He said 18 men had been arrested by Saudi Arabia in the investigation and 15 have already been identified by Turkish police as members of the hit squad who flew in and out of Istanbul the same day Khashoggi was killed.
This is the first time Turkey has shared information from its probe into the killing of the journalist.
This week foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is ready to cooperate with any international investigation into Khashoggi’s killing.
Authorities have been investigating Khashoggi’s disappearance after he entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2, but never left.
After weeks of denial, Saudi Arabia said the journalist had been killed at the consulate.
Previously, President Erdogan vowed to reveal the “naked truth” about Khashoggi’s killing during a speech to parliament on Tuesday.