Erdoğan adviser says Saudi Arabia trying to cover up Khashoggi murder

An adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday that comments from Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor were aimed at covering up the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, adding the Saudi probe was unlikely to find the perpetrators.

Yasin Aktay, who advises Erdoğan in his AK Party, made the comments after Saudi's public prosecutor said the journalist was killed after "negotiations" to convince him to return to the kingdom failed. Turkish officials have said they believe the killing was premeditated.

"They expect us to believe the killers carried this out on their own. This isn't very credible. Everything is clear as day, but there is an effort to cover it up a bit," Aktay said.

Erdoğan has said the killing was ordered at the "highest levels" of the Saudi government.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also slammed the comments from Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor.

"I don't find some comments satisfying. They say this person was killed because he resisted, whereas this murder was premeditated," Çavuşoğlu said.

"Where is the body of the murdered Khashoggi? Where was it thrown, where was it burned?" he added.

"Again, they say he was dismembered... but this isn't a spontaneous thing. The necessary equipment and people were previously brought in to kill and later dismember him."

Çavuşoğlu also reiterated Turkey's call for Riyadh to disclose the location of Khashoggi's remains.

"Where is the body of the murdered Khashoggi? Where was it thrown, where was it burned?" Çavuşoğlu said. He did not say whether Turkey had evidence that pointed to the body having been burned. Turkey has previously called for an investigation into reports the body was dissolved in acid.