Pompeo to Visit Turkey for Talks on Missing Saudi Journalist, Bilateral Issues

Washington, Oct 17 (PTI) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would visit Turkey to hold talks on key bilateral issues and the disappearance of Saudi Arabia's dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to his spokesperson.

Khashoggi, 59, a Washington Post contributor, is feared killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He has not been seen since entering the kingdom's mission two weeks ago.

Pompeo, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, will travel to Ankara on Wednesday, his spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

"In Ankara, the Secretary will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister (Mevlüt) Cavusoglu to welcome the decision to release Pastor Andrew Brunson and to discuss other issues of bilateral importance," Nauert said.

"The Secretary will also discuss the Jamal Khashoggi case and reiterate the US offer to assist Turkey in its investigation," she said in a brief statement.

Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi journalist who lived in the US as a legal permanent resident, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Turkish investigative agencies have said that he was brutally killed inside the consulate, claiming to have audio and video evidence.

So far Saudi Arabia has denied the allegation and said that Khashoggi had left the consulate. Some US media reports said that Saudi Arabia is planning to come out with a repot in which it is expected to say that the interrogation of Khashoggi went wrong and he was killed in the process.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has started a full investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi.

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