Prince Salman Denies Ordering Khashoggi Murder, Erdoğan Blames 'Saudi Shadow State'

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist from Saudi Arabia, was murdered on October 2 last year at the Kingdom's consulate in İstanbul.

"I get all the responsibility because it happened under my watch," Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with the PBS last week, adding that the murder was without his knowledge.

Salman clarified his words at the "60 minutes" program on CBS, another US TV channel, saying he "absolutely" did not order the killing but takes "full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia."

"Some think that I should know what three million people working for the Saudi government do daily?" Salman suggested.

When asked about the CIA report that concluded with "medium to high confidence" that he was behind the murder, Salman replied, "I hope this information to be brought forward. If there is any such information that charges me, I hope it is brought forward publicly."

Erdoğan: It is a question of justice rather than politics

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wrote an article yesterday (September 29) for the Washington Post, which Khashoggi was a columnist for. Claiming that the killing of Khashoggi is was the "most controversial incident" since the September 11 attacks, Erdoğan said Turkey will continue its efforts to shed light on the murder. 

Erdoğan made the following remarks in the article:

"Turkey has always seen, and continues to see, the kingdom as its friend and ally. My administration, therefore, made a clear and unmistakable distinction between the thugs who murdered Khashoggi and King Salman and his loyal subjects.

"Our long-standing friendship, however, does not necessarily entail silence. Quite the contrary, as the Turkish proverb goes, 'A real friend speaks bitter truths."

"The 15-member assassination squad that murdered Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul and chopped his body into pieces served the interests of a shadow state within the kingdom's government — not the Saudi state or people.

"Had we believed otherwise, this atrocity would have indeed been treated like a bilateral problem. However, we continue to see what happened as a question of justice rather than politics, and maintain that national and international courts alone can deliver justice."

"Khashoggi Muesum"

Turan Kışlakçı, the chairperson of the Turkish Arab Media Association, told the state-run Anadolu Agency that they are working to buy the consulate building and turn it into a museum for Khashoggi.

Saying that they will make an announcement on October 2, on the first anniversary of Khashoggi's death, Kışlakçı remarked, "We want to establish the Jamal Khashoggi Museum. For this, our attempt to buy the consulate building is continuing. We are working to buy it."

(AS/VK)