Turkey's Erdogan urges Saudi crown prince to 'uncover' Khashoggi killers, 'hidden' details of murder

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to "uncover" the murderers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, adding that some details of the gruesome killing were still being hidden.

Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi dissident journalist, was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year.

An investigation by the CIA reportedly pinned responsibility for the killing and subsequent cover-up on the crown prince and de-facto ruler, with a UN expert report agreeing that Prince Mohammad must at least have been aware of the cover-up attempts.

Turkey's Erdogan has also repeatedly pointed to bin Salman's alleged responsibility for the murder.

Speaking at a news conference at the G20 summit in Japan, the Turkish president said a 15-person team that arrived in Istanbul shortly before the killing was responsible and there was "no point in looking for perpetrators elsewhere".

He added that those responsible should be prosecuted in Turkey, Reuters reported.

Saudi Arabia has denied previous demands by Turkey to hold judicial proceedings in the country, instead opening its own trial against 11 unnamed suspects it says are responsible for the murder.

Five of those face the death penalty in the trial, which has been held secretly, with only a handful of diplomats allowed to attend.

The opaque trial has been widely criticised by human rights groups who have called for transparency and due diligence.

Saud al-Qahtani, former adviser and right-hand man to the crown prince, is widely alleged to have overseen the murder but is not among those being prosecuted in Saudi Arabia.

Despite being officially dismissed from his post and dealt with a travel ban, Qahtani has reportedly continued to privately advise bin Salman and travel freely.