Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday described the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been critical of Saudi Arabian royals, as a “vicious, violent, murder,” claiming that he had evidence during a speech to his party.
“We have strong evidence that this murder was planned,” Erdogan said. “He was brutally murdered.”
The Saudis said Friday that Khashoggi, a resident of the U.S., died following an altercation inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Erdogan had promised to reveal the “naked truth,” about Khashoggi’s demise, following an investigation by the country. The journalist was last seen entering the Saudi consulate three weeks ago in Istanbul. The Saudi royal family has maintained it has no connection to Khashoggi’s murder
The news comes amid rapidly escalating tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, with President Trump on Monday saying that he isn’t satisfied with Riyadh’s account of events and the government’s role.
The latest development highlights a series of political events that have roiled markets of late, with futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
and the S&P 500 index
set to open sharply lower after the Dow
and S&P
on Monday mostly ended on a downbeat note. Oil futures
also have been volatile amid fears that the Saudis, among the largest producers of global oil, would use crude as a possible weapon should they be sanctioned by the U.S. and other countries.
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