Erdogan presses Saudi Arabia to reveal who gave order to kill Khashoggi
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday demanded that Saudi Arabia reveal who gave the order to kill Saudi-born journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Turkey on October 2.
“Who gave this order?” Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in Ankara. “Who gave the order for 15 people to come to Turkey?” he said, referring to a 15-man Saudi security team Ankara says arrived in the consulate hours before the killing.
{mosads}“It is clear that he has been killed but where is it? You have to show the body,” he said.
Erdoğan also said Saudi Arabia’s chief public prosecutor will arrive in Turkey on Sunday as part of the Kingdom’s investigation into the death and will meet with Turkish officials, according to the Associated Press. The president also hinted that Turkey had more information on the case that will eventually be revealed, saying, “There is no point in being too hasty.”
CIA Director Gina Haspel was in Turkey this week to review evidence of the case.
Saudi Arabia’s account of the killing has taken many forms. While initially denying any involvement, it eventually said the death was a result of a rogue operation, then said Khashoggi died during a fist fight, and then yesterday admitted that the death was premeditated.
Last week, the kingdom announced that 18 people had been arrested and five officials were dismissed after the incident.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who many have questioned if he had ordered the killing as part of his crackdown on dissent, on Wednesday called the death a “heinous crime that cannot be justified.”
The death of Khashoggi, who was a columnist for The Washington Post and a U.S. resident, has thrust the America-Saudi relationship into the spotlight.
President Trump has taken an increasingly tough stance on Saudi Arabia, calling it “the worst cover-up ever.” However, he said pulling out of an arms deal with the kingdom is not an option that is on the table.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have also criticized Saudi Arabia for its suspected involvement in the killing.
“All out sanctions against those who engaged in this behavior, isolating the regime, treating it with the contempt it showed to us … But if this did occur, this would show contempt for the U.S.-Saudi relationship, they would take a guy like me for granted, they’re testing our values, and if they in fact did this, I want every other country that we deal with to understand what would happen to you. We’d hit them in the wallet, and everything in my view would be on the table,” Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said earlier this month.
“If it’s found that they, as everything indicates today … murdered a journalist, that will hugely change our relationship. I mean, there’s no question about it,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, echoed.