Turkish Prosecutor Requests Extradition Of 18 Saudis Over Journalist's Murder

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan giving a speech in Ankara on October 26.

A Turkish prosecutor has requested the extradition of 18 Saudi suspects over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu said on October 26 that Istanbul's chief prosecutor's office had submitted its request to Turkey's Justice Ministry.

The news agency said Turkey's Foreign Ministry would formally request the extraditions.

Saudi Arabia has said it arrested 18 people in connection with Khashoggi's killing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Turkey alleges a 15-member "hit squad" was sent to Istanbul to kill the journalist, a critic of the Saudi royal family who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States.

Earlier on October 26, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to disclose the location of Khashoggi's body.

Speaking on October 26 to provincial members of his AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said that Turkey has other "information and evidence" about Khashoggi's killing in the Saudi Consulate.

Erdogan said Saudi's public prosecutor was due to meet the Istanbul prosecutor in Istanbul on October 28.

Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee on October 26 called for all those responsible for his murder to be brought to justice.

"I demand that all those involved in this savagery from the highest to the lowest levels are punished and brought to justice," Hatice Cengiz told the Haber Turk television station.

Cengiz also said she has declined an invitation to the White House by U.S. President Donald Trump because she thought the invitation was aimed at influencing public opinion in the United States.

Meanwhile, Khashoggi’s eldest son arrived in the United States after the kingdom revoked a travel ban that prevented him from leaving the country.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and BBC