Turkey hints at mending ties with Saudi Arabia
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ISTANBUL: A Turkish prosecutor on Thursday asked an Istanbul court to halt the trial of 26 suspects in the murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi and hand the case over to Riyadh.
Turkey is seeking to mend ties with Saudi Arabia to bolster its struggling economy, four years after the gruesome 2018 killing of the dissident Saudi journalist inside Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul.
The Istanbul court is trying 26 Saudi officials in absentia over the macabre killing but the prosecutor said the trial should be stopped and the case transferred to Saudi Arabia, at the latter’s request.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the prosecutor’s request was “terrible news”. The press rights group urged the Turkish justice ministry to turn it down.
Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancee confirmed the Saudi government had asked to take over the case in Istanbul.
“The prosecutor asked, accordingly to the Saudi demand, for the transfer of the file to #SaudiArabia and the finalisation of it in #Turkey,” Hatice Cengiz tweeted after the hearing on Thursday in Istanbul’s main court. - APP/AFP
