On October 23, the Turkish president Recep Erdogan addressed his parliamentary bloc about Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi murder inside Saudi consulate premises in Istambul on October 2, 2018.
By Fabio Bosco
Erdogan gathered information already publicized by Turkish media. He stated that the murder was premeditated and demanded independent probe and the 18 suspects to be put on trial in Istambul. Furthermore he demanded Saudi authorities information about Jamal Khashoggi body whereabouts and the identity of the Turks who helped to hide his body.
Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist with good relations with the Saudi royal family. He supported the modernization projects pushed by Prince Mohammad Bin Salman but was weary about lack of civil liberties in the Saudi Kingdom. Lately he decided to self-exile in the U.S. where he wrote regularly to the Washington Post due to the political persecution on dissenters.
He went to the Saudi consulate in order to get an official divorce certificate that would eventually enable him to get married to his Turkish fiancée. The Turkish media reported that the journalist was tortured, suffocated and dismembered into 15 pieces by a Saudi 15-member security team inside the consulate premises.
There are rumors about Khashoggi taking a watch able to record voice and images which are currently under the control of the Turkish Intelligence Agency. That would eventually be the origin of all information on the conversations and the seven minutes spent to dismember the journalist.
This heinous murder fully strikes Saudi Prince Mohammad Bin Salman who is the de facto ruler of the country in an autocratic fashion. One member of his personal safety body was among the 15 saudis who travelled to Istambul to execute Khashoggi.
Since in power after setting King Salman former successor out, the Prince started a military aggression against Yemen, a diplomatic conflict against Qatar and arrested dissenters (feminists, clergymen and even some millionaires).
The U.S., European powers and Turkey are demanding a stand from Saudi authorities who was reluctant but finally recognized that Khashoggi died inside the Saudi consulate due to a “conflict”. In reality economic and geopolitical considerations are above any deeper concerns about human rights.
President Trump himself, after comes and goes, stated that Khashoggi murder should not affect US$ 110 billion weapons selling to the Saudis. European powers are under the same dilemma. Turkey itself competes for regional hegemony against both the Saudis and the Iranians.
It is not possible yet to predict which will be the final result of the whole imbroglio. Anyway the Saudi Prince will be weakened in the aftermath.
Crisis Around Jamal Khashoggi Intensifies!
