The order came from the "highest levels": Erdogan: Riad ordered Khashoggi's assassination

policy

Saturday, November 3, 2018

It was only around the middle of last week that the Saudi government admitted to deliberately killing pro-government journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Then horrific details are revealed – and now the Turkish president is even staring at himself and directly accuses Riyadh.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the Saudi government for killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The order to kill Khashoggi came from the "highest levels" of the Saudi government, Erdogan wrote in a commentary to the Washington Post released on Friday. Erdogan added that there remained important issues in the case, such as what happened to the journalist's body. "Unfortunately, the Saudi authorities have not answered these questions."

On October 2, the Saudi government critic Khashoggi went to the Istanbul consulate to collect papers for his wedding. After that, the reporter did not show up anymore. Riyadh was only a few weeks later and, under mbadive international pressure, admitted that the 59-year-old had been killed at the consulate.

"Broken into pieces" and "destroyed"

The Turkish Attorney General's Office said on Wednesday that the Saudi journalist was strangled shortly after he entered the consulate. Subsequently, his body was "cut in pieces" and then "destroyed".

About a month after the events, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday sentenced the crime. At the same time, he stressed the crucial role of Saudi Arabia in the fight against Iran. "What happened at the consulate in Istanbul is terrible and should be handled appropriately," Netanyahu said. But at the same time, it is "very important for stability in the region and in the world that Saudi Arabia remains stable".

Israel and the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are also hostile to Shiite Iran and want to suppress its influence in the region. Netanyahu is considered the most acerbic critic of the nuclear deal with Iran.

Source: n-tv.de