Turkey: Highest level of Saudi govt ordered writer’s slaying

The order to kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi came from the highest level of the Saudi government, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, adding the international community had the responsibility to “reveal the puppet masters” behind the slaying.

In an op-ed in The Washington Post, Erdogan said he did not believe Saudi King Salman had ordered the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate on October 2. He said Turkey’s close ties to Saudi Arabia did not mean Turkey could turn a blind eye to the killing of the journalist.

“We know that the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government,” Erdogan said. Erdogan wrote: “As responsible members of the international community, we must reveal the identities of the puppet masters behind Khashoggi’s killing and discover those in whom Saudi officials — still trying to cover up the murder — have placed their trust.”

Meanwhile in Bulgaria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Khashoggi’s slaying a horrendous act that “should be duly dealt with” in a way that doesn’t undermine Saudi Arabia’s stability.

Netanyahu said that Iran is a bigger threat than Saudi Arabia and those who want to punish the Middle East kingdom need to bear that in mind.

As responsible members of the international community, we must reveal the identities of the puppet masters behind Khashoggi’s killing. —Erdogan