NUR ÖZKAN ERBAY
PRESIDENTIAL PLANE
Speaking to journalists on his way back to Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he told several world leaders that the order for Khashoggi’s murder was made by the high echelons of Saudi hierarchy.
Expressing that the recording of Khashoggi’s murder has been shared with several countries, including the U.S., Germany and the U.K., Erdoğan underlined that Turkey is still patiently waiting for Saudis to shed light on the issue
The audio recording of the moments Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul shocked a Saudi intelligence officer, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told journalists following his two-day official visit to France. The president made the remarks yesterday on his way back from Paris, where he attended Armistice Day ceremonies. He said that Turkey has not concealed any details on the murder from the international community and has given the recording to any related authority who has asked for it. “Even a Saudi intelligence officer was shocked after he listened to the recording and he uttered that ‘only a person on heroin can commit such an action,'” Erdoğan said.
The president added that Turkey gave the recording to Saudi Arabia, the U.S., France, Canada, Germany and the U.K. He said they are patiently waiting for the Saudis to shed light on the issue “as promised by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.” Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post was announced missing by his fiancee Hatice Cengiz after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain marriage documents on Oct. 2. Later in October, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that Khashoggi was strangled to death as soon as he entered the consulate and his body was then dismembered and disposed in a planned manner.
Erdoğan said that he discussed the Khashoggi murder with U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in a dinner and told them it was obvious that Khashoggi’s murder was ordered and instructed by the high echelons of the Saudi hierarchy.
“As I’ve mentioned in my article [in The Washington Post], I could not have such [accusatory] thoughts toward King Salman, whom I greatly respect, but we want that the person who gave the order to be revealed,” he said.
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Categories: Asia, Europe, Royal Family, Saudi Arabia, Turkey