Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he is personally "chasing" the investigation into Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who went missing after entering the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul last week.
"I am following it up as the President of the Turkish Republic," the Turkish leader said, while also confirming that he had known Khashoggi for some time and considered him a friend.
"I am chasing. We will of course share the result with the world. All the footage of entrance or exit of the embassy is under investigation," CNN cited him as saying.
Erdogan's comments came after unnamed Turkish officials told the The Washington Post and Reuters that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post writer and outspoken critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's leadership, entered the consulate Tuesday to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage while his Turkish fiancée waited outside. But his fiancée says she never saw him re-emerge.
The Turkish president suggested that the Turkish investigation included the arrival of a number of Saudi officials in Istanbul.
Fifteen Saudis arrived in the city on two planes and visited the consulate while Khashoggi was being held, the official Anadolu agency reported quoting Turkish police.
"The arrival at the airport, the departure, is under investigation," Erdogan added.
