Turkey has not yet shared any information with any country on Khashoggi case: FM

Turkey will cooperate with any international investigation probing the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Tuesday, adding that Ankara had not yet shared any information with any country on the case.

The minister stated that Turkey was ready to cooperate in a possible probe into the Khashoggi case at the United Nations, international courts or institutions.

Saudi Arabia has been more open to cooperation on the case since the phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Saudi King Salman on Oct. 15, Çavuşoğlu said.

The minister said that it was "important" that Saudi Arabia acknowledged the killing of Khashoggi, even though it was a late statement.

Khashoggi, who was a U.S. resident and strong critic of Saudi’s Crown Prince Salman, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Khashoggi, who was a U.S. resident and strong critic of Saudi’s Crown Prince Salman, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

On the day of his disappearance, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.

After denying knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Saturday said he was killed during a fight inside its Istanbul consulate.

His body has not been recovered, nor has Saudi Arabia explained its shifting narrative on what transpired.

Trump said Monday he is "not satisfied" with Saudi Arabia's explanation for Khashoggi's disappearance -- just days after calling it a "great first step".

The foreign minister stated that steps will be taken in the coming days to lift U.S. sanctions on the justice and interior ministers of Turkey.

Ankara’s ties with the U.S. were strained due to Washington’s support of the YPG terror group and their stance on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), not because of the case of now freed American pastor Andrew Brunson, Çavuşoğlu said.

The YPG is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

The U.S. needs to cut support for the YPG and fully implement the Manbij roadmap, he added.

The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of terrorist YPG/PKK forces from the city in Aleppo province, northern Syria to stabilize the region.

“Turkey will not allow PKK/YPG to be part of Syrian constitutional committee,” Çavuşoğlu said, adding that Russia was aware that the YPG is a terrorist organization.

Regarding FETÖ, Çavuşoğlu called Washington to take action against the terror group, saying that it is “unacceptable” that the U.S. hosts a group that attempted a coup in Turkey.

FETÖ terrorists are led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gülen, who orchestrated Turkey's July 15 coup attempt and is the mastermind behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Since the failed coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary as well as in state institutions across the country to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETÖ.