Turkish police have audio of ‘Khashoggi killing in consulate’

Istanbul, Turkey – Turkish authorities have an audio recording which indicates that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a Turkish official has told Al Jazeera.

The official, who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity, said the audio originates from a different source than the Apple Watch that the journalist was reportedly wearing when he entered the consulate on October 2.

Separately, the Reuters news agency on Monday reported that Turkish police were in possession of an audio recording that indicates Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, citing two anonymous officials.

Saudi Arabia has strongly denied killing Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom’s policies. Its interior minister has described the assertion as “lies”. Saudi officials have said he left the consulate shortly after entering it.

Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 [File: AP Photo]

One of the Turkish officials told Reuters that evidence showing that Khashoggi had been killed was being shared with countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States.

“Evidence has been conveyed to all sides very clearly,” the security source said. “Now we are at the stage of collecting concrete evidence at the consulate.”

The security official that Al Jazeera spoke to said the recording obtained by Turkish police has 11 minutes of audio.

Technical voice analyses conducted by police identified three male voices who are believed to be Saudis, in addition to the voice of Khashoggi, the official said, adding that the journalist was assaulted immediately after he entered the consulate.

The official also said that consulate staff were dismissed early on the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, at 11:30am, having been told that there would be a meeting at the consulate that day.

The Saudi embassy in Ankara did not respond to requests for comment.