Erdogan ‘shocked’ at tapes
Turkish president calls on crown prince to identify who gave orders for journalist’s murder
TURKISH President Tayyip Erdogan said 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 yesterday.
Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a hit which Erdogan says was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.
Erdogan said he discussed the journalist’s killing with the US, French and German leaders at a dinner in Paris.
“We played the recordings to everyone. 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 appalling. 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’.”
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 multibillion-dollar purchases of US military equipment and investments in US companies.
US National Security adviser John Bolton said he did not think 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.”
Bolton shares with Saudi Arabia a hawkish stance against Riyadh’s biggest Middle East rival Iran, and he championed Washington’s resumption of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Erdogan said it was clear the killing was planned and the order came from the top level of Saudi authorities, but he could not think such a thing of King Salman, for whom he has “limitless respect”.
“The crown prince says ‘I will clarify the matter, I will do what is necessary’. We are waiting patiently,” Erdogan said, adding that the perpetrators of the killing were among 18 suspects detained in Saudi Arabia.
Last month, two intelligence sources said one of Prince Mohammed’s top aides, Saud al-Qahtani, gave orders over Skype to Khashoggi’s killers. Recently, a government source said Qahtani featured prominently throughout the recordings.
Saudi state media said King Salman sacked him and others over the killing, and a senior official said last month Qahtani had been detained. But four sources in the Gulf said this week he was still at liberty and continued to operate discreetly.
Turkey’s pro-government newspaper Sabah reported yesterday 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.
Erdogan has not given details of the contents of the tapes, but two sources with knowledge of the issue have said that Turkey has several audio recordings.