President Tayyip Erdogan says recordings related to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with Western allies, are "appalling" and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them.
Mr Khashoggi, a critic of de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a hit which Mr Erdogan says was ordered at the "highest levels" of the Saudi government.
Mr Erdogan told reporters on his plane returning from a weekend visit to France he discussed the Saudi journalist's killing with the US, French and German leaders at dinner in Paris.
"We played the recordings regarding this murder to everyone who wanted them from us.
"Our intelligence organisation did not hide anything. We played them to all who wanted them including the Saudis, the USA, France, Canada, Germany, Britain," he said.
"The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings he was so shocked he said: 'This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this'," he added.
Mr Khashoggi's murder has provoked global outrage but little concrete action by major powers against Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and a strong proponent of US policy to contain Iranian influence across the Middle East.
President Donald Trump has expressed reluctance to punish Saudi Arabia economically, citing the kingdom's multibillion-dollar purchases of US military equipment and investments in US companies.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton said he did not think people who heard the recordings concluded the crown prince was linked to the killing.
"And certainly that is not the position of the Saudi government," he said in Singapore.
Asked again if the audio tape provided by Turkey did not link Prince Mohammed to the killing in any way, Mr Bolton said: "I haven't listened to the tape myself but in the assessment of those who have listened to it, that is right."
Mr Bolton shares with Saudi Arabia a hawkish stance against Riyadh's biggest Middle East rival Iran and he championed Washington's resumption of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Reuters
