ISTANBUL – Turkey will continue its efforts to shed light on the murder ofSaudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the country’s president said on Sunday.
Writing an article in the Washington Post, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkeywould continue pressing for the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains and theidentities of those responsible.
Underlining that many questions remained unanswered about the courtproceedings in Saudi Arabia, he said: “The near-complete lack oftransparency surrounding the trial, the lack of public access to hearingsand the allegation that some of Khashoggi’s murderers enjoy de factofreedom fail to meet the international community’s expectations and tarnishthe image of Saudi Arabia — something that Turkey, as its friend and ally,does not desire.”
Erdogan described the Khashoggi’s murder as “arguably the most influentialand controversial incident of the 21st century, barring the Sept. 11, 2001,terrorist attacks.”
“No other event since 9/11 has posed such a serious threat to theinternational order or challenged the conventions that the world has cometo take for granted,” he said.
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Erdogan decried the fact the alleged culprits travelled to Turkey ondiplomatic passports, turned a “diplomatic building into a crime scene” andwere assisted in the attempted coverup by Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat inIstanbul, saying that these “set a very dangerous precedent.”
“Perhaps more dangerous is the impunity that some of the killers seem toenjoy back in the kingdom,” Erdogan added, Anadolu Agency has reported.
