Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee appears at Istanbul Saudi trial

The fiancée of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, said on Friday that the trial on his death been "exhausting both morally and psychologically".

Hatice Cengiz spoke to press outside Caglayan Courthouse in Istanbul on Friday and asked that all persons responsible for her fiancé's killing be brought to justice in court.

Cengiz spoke at the opening of a trial in absentia against two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 18 other Saudi nationals who have been charged by Turkish authorities over Khashoggi's grisly killing in 2018.

His slaying sparked widespread condemnation and cast a cloud of suspicion over the crown prince.

Turkish prosecutors have indicted the 20 Saudi nationals, who have all left Turkey, and have demanded that they be sentenced to life terms in prison.

Saudi Arabia rejected Turkish demands for the suspects' extradition and put some of them on trial in Riyadh behind closed doors.

The proceedings were widely criticised as a "whitewash" and Khashoggi's family later announced that they had forgiven his killers.

The trial in Turkey is being closely watched for possible new information or evidence into the killing, including the whereabouts of Khashoggi's remains.