A bird sits by a Saudi Arabia’s flag on the roof of its consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 14, 2018. Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist, vanished after he walked into the consulate Oct. 2. | Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo Foreign Policy Saudi king, Turkish president discuss journalist’s disappearance

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi King Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have spoken by telephone over the disappearance and alleged killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi.

State-run news agencies in both Saudi Arabia and Turkey acknowledged Sunday night’s call.


Turkey said Erdogan “stressed forming a joint working group to probe the case.”

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said King Salman thanked Erdogan “for welcoming the kingdom’s proposal” for forming the working group.

The king also said Turkey and Saudi Arabia enjoy close relations and “that no one will get to undermine the strength of this relationship.”

Khashoggi disappeared Oct. 2 while visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Turkey fears Saudi officials killed and dismembered The Washington Post columnist; Turkish officials claim they have audio and video recordings of Khashoggi being interrogated, killed and dismembered.

Saudi Arabia calls the allegations “baseless,” but has offered no explanation for Khashoggi’s whereabouts.

Khashoggi went to the Saudi Consulate seeking documents so he could be married to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He was told to return to the consulate on Oct. 2 to pick up those documents, Cengiz says.

Surveillance footage later aired on Turkish state television shows Khashoggi walking into the consulate at 1:14 p.m. on Oct. 2. A little less than two hours later, surveillance footage shows several vehicles with diplomatic license plates move from the consulate to the consul’s home some 1.2 miles away.

Cengiz, who spent hours waiting for Khashoggi outside while holding his mobile phones, says her fiance never walked out of the consulate to meet her. Surveillance footage shows her pacing around outside at 5:33 p.m., speaking on her phone. No footage made public so far has shown Khashoggi walked out of the consulate.

