ISTANBUL _ On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyep Erdogan vowed he would reveal the details behind the killing of Saudi journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi and expose what many believe is a cover-up by Saudi Arabia.
"The truth," he said, would be "revealed in full nakedness."
It remained mostly clothed.
Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, Erdogan declared that Khashoggi's slaying had been a "planned operation" _ belying the Saudi claim that he died in an accidental struggle with security officials.
But the Turkish leader did little to resolve major questions surrounding Khashoggi's death, even as he vowed to continue the investigation and called for those involved to be tried in Turkish courts.
Erdogan stopped short of implicating Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, who many believe ordered the hit on the journalist.
"The human conscience will only be satisfied when the person who gave the order is punished," Erdogan said, adding that he "had no doubt about the sincerity of King Salman" of Saudi Arabia, but that the investigation should be carried out "without bias."
He said he expected those responsible "from the highest to the lowest level to be punished as required before the law."
"Leaving some security personnel to hold the bag will not satisfy us nor the international community," he said, according to a translation provided by Turkish broadcaster TRT World.
He did not produce a much-anticipated audio recording that Turkish media reports have said captured Khashoggi's final moments as he was tortured in the office of the Saudi consul general.
Erdogan's speech came hours after CIA director Gina Haspel flew to Ankara as U.S., Saudi and Turkish officials continue to seek a way out of a crisis that threatens to damage their long-standing relationships.
Khashoggi was a onetime Saudi insider turned critic of Prince Mohammed's government. He disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate here on Oct. 2.
The Saudis initially denied that he had been killed, insisting that he had left the consulate shortly after arriving, but late last week, they changed their story and said he had died after a brief fight with a team of security officials at the diplomatic office.
In the speech, Erdogan gave a review of the evidence his intelligence and security services had gathered, confirming some details of the investigation that had been leaked to the media in piecemeal fashion over the last three weeks.
He spoke about the team of security, intelligence and forensic specialists from Saudi Arabia who flew into Istanbul before and after the killing.
He detailed their movements, including "reconnaissance work" at Istanbul's Belgrade forest and the district of Yalova, areas where Turkish investigators believe Khashoggi's body may have been buried. He also described the removal of hard drives from the consulate's camera system in the hours before Khashoggi was due to arrive there to pick up documents he needed for his impending marriage.
Erdogan demanded the Saudis provide the identity of a Turkish local who was to have assisted in the body's disposal and confirmed that a body double had been used as a decoy in an unsuccessful effort to show Khashoggi had left the consulate.
Yet Erdogan's speech was more informative in what it left unsaid.
Throughout his address, the Turkish leader did not mention the crown prince, instead speaking with reverence of King Salman and saying that Riyadh's acknowledgment that its agents had killed Khashoggi was "a significant step."
Diplomatic immunity could not apply in this case, Erdogan said, because although the killing had taken place on Saudi sovereign territory, the consulate was on Turkish land. Earlier, Saudi Arabia had insisted the suspects should be tried by its judiciary.
"The incident took place in Istanbul, therefore I propose the trial of these 18 people should be in Istanbul," Erdogan said.
Meanwhile, in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, officials kicked off their Future Investment Initiative conference, a showcase for the crown prince's economic policies that has been marred by the controversy over Khashoggi's death.
The three-day event, billed as "Davos in the Desert," aims to draw foreign investment to the country and display Saudi Arabia's potential for industries beyond oil.
High-level government and corporate officials have pulled out of the conference (although many dispatched second-tier executives). Earlier Tuesday, the conference website was hacked, displaying a picture of the crown prince brandishing a bloodied sword with a smiling Khashoggi kneeling before him.
"For the sake of security for children worldwide, we urge all countries to put sanctions on the Saudi regime," said a message below the picture.
