Turkey’s Erdoğan: Khashoggi killer may have been on heroin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly told a pro-government newspaper on Tuesday that the Saudi personnel involved in Jamal Khashoggi’s death may have been on heroin.

Erdoğan was quoted in Yeni Safak calling Khashoggi’s murder “truly atrocious,” according to The Associated Press, and hinted that a Saudi intelligence officer who examined recordings of the crime had suggested that one or more of the men had been using the drug when Khashoggi was killed.

{mosads}“The recording is truly atrocious. In fact, when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recording he was so shocked that he said ‘this one probably took heroin. Only someone who took heroin would do it,’ ” Erdoğan said, according to the AP.

The Turkish president did not say when Saudi officials had heard the recordings.

Khashoggi, a Saudi-born columnist for The Washington Post, was killed last month in a Saudi consulate in Turkey after entering the facility to obtain a marriage document.

His disappearance devolved into an international scandal after Saudi officials initially stated that he had left the building unharmed before later offering differing explanations for his death.

Turkey’s government, which is investigating the killing along with Saudi officials, says that the journalist, a prominent critic of the Saudi government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed by a 15-member squad flown in from Saudi Arabia specifically for his murder.

President Trump has warned that the U.S. will respond to Khashoggi’s death, and the Trump administration rescinded visas for some Saudi officials allegedly responsible for Khashoggi’s death last month.