LIVE: Erdogan says Turkey has evidence Khashoggi murder was premeditated

"Why did the 15 people gather in Istanbul on the day of murder? We are looking for answers. Who did they take the order from? Why did they let us search the consulate building days later, instead of doing it immediately?

"When the murder was so clear, why have so many inconsistent statements been made? With the statement that the body was given to a local collaborator, because it’s an official statement, I ask, who is this local collaborator?

"Because it’s not someone ordinary who mentions this local collaborator. This is an official of Saudi Arabia. Then you have to declare who this local collaborator is. No one, until these questions are answered, should give the slightest thought to this matter being covered up.

"Our security and intelligence units have some information currently being assessed and they point to this being planned.

"The file in the prosecutor’s office leaving some security and intelligence forces holding the bag will not satisfy us or the international community. The human conscience will be satisfied only when the person who gave the orders is brought to account.

"I do not doubt the sincerity of King Salman. But such an investigation should be carried out by a delegation that is fair, and truly unbiased. Other countries should also be involved. International law, Islamic law and Saudi law require this.

"As Turkey, we will follow the matter to the very end and we will make sure that whatever the requisite of our own law, that it will be upheld.

"I’m making a call today. This call is to the high-level executives. The incident took place in Istanbul. Therefore, the adjudication of these 15 plus three people should be carried out in Istanbul. That’s my proposal.

"The decision is at his [the king’s] discretion, but this is my proposal. This is where the incident occurred.”

As the 'Davos in the Desert' event started, Saudi King Salman received Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shokri at the royal court, according to the Saudi daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.

Shokri reportedly delivered a letter to the king from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, but the details of the letter were not revealed.

Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan also visited the king. Khan recently told MEE that he would attend the FII conference despite Khashoggi's killing because his country must continue to prioritise good relations with Saudi Arabia due to its dire economic crisis.

“We’re desperate at the moment,” Khan said.

“At 5:50pm, the fiancee called authorities and said he is being held against his will in the consulate or that something might have happened to him. The relevant units of the Istanbul police force then started an inquiry. As a result of security footage in the area, it becomes ascertained that Khashoggi never left the building.

'As we go deeper into the inquiry, we’ve obtained some very interesting information'

"Because they have diplomatic immunity – as per the Vienna Convention, which is part of a discussion now, Mogherini has made some discussions on this – no physical action was taken against the staff at first.

"As we go deeper into the inquiry, we’ve obtained some very interesting information. First of all, 15 Saudi nationals that are security, intelligence and forensics people arrived in our country, beginning on the eve of the murder.

"Six of these people have left our country on a private plane on 2 October at 6:20pm and seven at 10.50pm. Another person with a beard and eyeglasses attempted to resemble Jamal Khashoggi and another person left for Riyadh on a scheduled flight.

"The staff working at the consulate on the day of an incident were gathered in a room on the pretext of an inspection and the staff serving at the consulate were given leave and an excuse.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that Turkey has yet to share any information on the Khashoggi case with other countries, but is prepared to do so.

Speaking in Ankara, Cavusoglu said Turkey is "ready to cooperate" if the UN and other international bodies request an independent investigation into Khashoggi's death.

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son is the latest executive to pull out of speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal has reported within the past hour.

A spokesperson for the conference said that Son may still attend the conference even if he is not speaking.

Saudi Arabia has invested around $45bn in Softbank's $100bn Vision Fund. Launched in May 2017, the fund has already made major investments in several Silicon Valley companies including Uber, Slack and WeWork. 

It was meant to be an occasion where Saudi Arabia could showcase itself to some of the biggest and most-powerful political and business leaders on the planet.

But the major investment conference dubbed “Davos in the Desert” has instead been deserted by many of the key figures set to attend as the Khashoggi crisis has grown.

The darling of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), it seeks to attract investment and help kick-start the Saudi leader’s Vision 2030 economic reform programme.

Noticeably absent are Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and US Treasure Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who is still in Riyadh and met with MBS on Monday.

Trade and economics minsters from European heavyweights Britain, France and the Netherlands have also pulled out.

Meanwhile, top figures from corporate giants Uber, Ford and JPMorgan are also not attending. Media partners such as CNN, Bloomberg and the Financial Times have also pulled the plug on their support.

It’s not a good start, and with the people behind the real Davos conference, the World Economic Forum, issuing a statement on Monday objecting to FII’s use of its brand, the image of the Riyadh version could be tainted for ever.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reports on Tuesday that Russia is aware of Saudi Arabia’s stance that the royal family was not connected to the murder of Khashoggi, Reuters reports.

Other matters, he said, are for investigators. 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected to speak around the same time as Erdogan, in what would have been an extraordinary scene of duelling speeches.

Instead the FII's organisers have sent through an official schedule with the young heir to the Saudi throne not among the list of speakers.

Maybe he doesn't want to miss Erdogan's speech? The Turkish president is running a little behind schedule. His address in parliament was due to begin at 9.45am UK time.

Turkey has been drip-feeding information from its Khashoggi investigation for the past three weeks, but has yet to officially declare anything on the record or present evidence so far, writes our correspondent Ece Goksedef from Istanbul. 

The purpose of the leaks to both local and international media has been to attract global attention and pressure the Saudis - who eventually admitted they had killed Khashoggi last Friday.

Yet Turkey has continued to leak evidence following Saudi's admission. The perception in Turkey is that the president and authorities are not happy with Saudi's explanation of the events.

Now Erdogan will use his speech as a warning to Saudi and the US to be more transparent about what happened.

Middle East Eye has been closely following Jamal Khashoggi’s apparent murder ever since he disappeared on 2 October.

Here’s a selection of our latest news, features and columns on the tragic and sordid affair:

►On Monday, Mustafa Abu Sneineh revealed for the first time details of a team of assassins known as the Tiger Squad, said to be behind the death of Khashoggi and other Saudi dissidents

►In his latest column, MEE's Editor-in-Chief David Hearst explores the arguments for propping up Mohammed bin Salman's explosive reign, and asks whether the kingdom's stability is really at risk by his removal. Could it instead be the other way around?

►Over the weekend we broke our latest exclusive on the Turkish investigation, detailing how Turkey now believes that one of MBS's bodyguards, Maher Abdulaziz Mutrib, brought a body part back to Riyadh on a private jet

►And with the awful confirmation of Khashoggi's killing from the Saudi side, on Monday MEE republished the articles that Jamal wrote for us anonymously, before he fled the kingdom and took up his column at the Washington Post, where he was finally allowed to speak his mind under his own name