Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will hold talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is scheduled to arrive on a working visit to Ankara on October 17. Their talks are expected to focus on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Sputnik.

"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with President Tayyip Erdogan and our [Foreign] Minister [Mevlut Cavusoglu] during the visit to Turkey," the ministry's statement read.

According to the Turkish president's press service, Erdogan will meet with Pompeo at the Ankara airport before leaving for Moldova.

Mike Pompeo earlier stated that the Saudi government had pledged to get to the bottom of The Washington Post columnist's case.

On October 16, Pompeo visited Riyadh, where he held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and thanked the Saudi government for providing support for a transparent investigation into the suspected murder of Khashoggi.

Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. According to the journalist's fiancee, he was invited to the consulate to receive documents but never left the diplomatic mission's building. The Saudis claim Khashoggi left the building unharmed and vehemently deny all the allegations of murdering the columnist.