Khashoggi tapes appalling — Erdogan
Turkish president believes murder was ordered by Saudi government
President Tayyip Erdogan says recordings related to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with Western allies, are “appalling” and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with Western allies, are “appalling” and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.
Khashoggi, a critic of de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a hit that Erdogan says was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.
Erdogan told reporters on his plane returning from a weekend visit to France that he discussed the Saudi journalist’s killing with the US, French and German leaders at dinner in Paris.
“We played the recordings regarding this murder to everyone who wanted them from us. Our intelligence organisation did not hide anything. We played them to all who wanted them, including the Saudis, the US, France, Canada, Germany, Britain,” he said.
“The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings he was so shocked he said, ‘This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this’,” he said.
Khashoggi’s murder has provoked global outrage but little concrete action by major powers against Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and a strong proponent of US policy to contain Iranian influence across the Middle East.
President Donald Trump has expressed reluctance to punish Saudi Arabia economically, citing the kingdom’s multibilliondollar purchases of US military equipment and investments in US companies.
US national security adviser John Bolton said he did not think that people who heard the recordings concluded that the crown prince was linked to the killing. “And certainly that is not the position of the Saudi government,” he said in Singapore.
Asked again if the audio tape provided by Turkey did not link the crown prince to the killing in any way, Bolton said, “I haven’t listened to the tape myself but in the assessment of those who have listened to it, that is right.”
Bolton shares with Saudi Arabia a hawkish stance against Riyadh’s biggest Middle East rival Iran, and he championed Washington’s recent resumption of harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
In his comments to reporters, Erdogan said it was clear the killing was planned and that the order came from the top level of Saudi authorities, but that he could not think such a thing of King Salman, for whom he had “limitless respect”.
“The crown prince says ‘I will clarify the matter, I will do what is necessary’. We are waiting patiently,” Erdogan said.
The perpetrators of the killing were among 18 suspects detained in Saudi Arabia, he said. “It must be revealed who gave them the order to murder.”
In October, two intelligence sources told Reuters that one of Mohammed’s top aides, Saud alQahtani, gave orders over Skype to Khashoggi’s killers at the consulate. More recently, a government source familiar with the matter said that Qahtani featured prominently throughout the recordings.
Saudi state media said Salman sacked him and other officials over the killing, and a senior Saudi official said in October that Qahtani had been detained. But four sources based in the Gulf said this week he was still at liberty and continued to operate discreetly.
“He still has the same influence,” one of the sources said.
Qahtani has wielded that influence over the last three years, with his authority growing alongside that of the young crown prince.
He ran social media for Mohammed, masterminded the arrest of hundreds of Saudi Arabia’s elite late in 2017 in a campaign Riyadh said aimed at rooting out corruption, and took a harsh line against neighbouring Qatar when Saudi Arabia imposed an economic boycott of the Gulf state in June 2017.
He also supervised the brief detention, humiliation and beating of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in 2017.
Turkey’s pro-government newspaper Sabah reported on Tuesday that the luggage of the Saudi team that was sent to Istanbul at the time of Khashoggi’s killing contained syringes, large scissors, staple guns, walkie-talkies, electric shock devices and a signal jammer.
It published photos of X-rays of bags taken as the Saudis passed through security checks at the airport when they left. Reuters could not immediately verify the Sabah report.
Erdogan has not given details of the contents of the tapes but two sources with knowledge of the issue have said Turkey has several audio recordings.
They include the killing itself and conversations before the operation that Turkey subsequently uncovered, the sources said. These had led Ankara to conclude from an early stage that the killing was premeditated, despite Saudi Arabia’s initial denials of any knowledge or involvement.
Saudi public prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb has since said that Khashoggi’s killing was planned, though another Saudi official said Mohammed had no knowledge of the specific operation.