Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken strongly of the need to uncover all the facts of the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi Arabian Consulate. Turkey, whose relations with Saudi have been strained since 2017, has played a crucial role in revealing the details..
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken strongly of the need to uncover all the facts of the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi Arabian Consulate. Turkey, whose relations with Saudi have been strained since 2017, has played a crucial role in revealing the details of the Khashoggi case, in spite of Erdogan’s own reputation for silencing critics.
Background
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist who was a permanent resident of the United States and a columnist at the Washington Post, was killed at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. He was a vocal, but not extreme, critic of Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and his “oppressive regime”. The Saudi government denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s death for two weeks into the investigation, before finally admitting he was killed by several high ranking officials in the embassy in an alleged fist fight. Turkish US officials claim they have evidence he was dismembered and tortured before being murdered.
Since the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis, when most of the Middle East blockaded Qatar over its contrarian stances, relations between Saudi and Turkey have soured. Turkey sided with Qatar in a mutually beneficial relationship and grew increasingly hostile to Saudi Arabia. Turkey has suffered an economic and financial crisis throughout 2018, characterised by the Turkish lira’s value plummeting, high inflation, increase in borrowing costs, and rising loan defaults.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil producer and exporter. Saudi Arabia’s economy is petroleum-based – oil actually accounts for 90% of the country’s exports and nearly 75% government revenues. In 2014, a global fall in oil prices caused the Saudi economy to deteriorate, but this has not yet affected their wealth or their influence in the region.
Analysis
In a phone call with President Donald Trump, Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed for the need to disclose all circumstances of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death. According to Turkey’s Sabah newspaper, Erdogan made the following statement: “We seek justice and this will be revealed in all its naked truth, not through some ordinary steps but in all its naked truth. This is not an ordinary case. I will make statements on Tuesday at the AK Party parliamentary group meeting. The incident will be revealed entirely.”
Interestingly, since an attempted coup in 2016, dissidents in Turkey have been targeted and jailed repeatedly. German Chancellor Angela Merkel once accepted Turkey’s request to prosecute a German comedian who made strong comments against Erdogan. Since he became president in 2014 almost 2,000 legal cases have prosecuted citizens for insulting the president. Thousands more live in exile.
According to a news portal run by dissident Turkish journalists living in exile, a Kurdish-Turkish journalist who was sentenced to six years in prison and living in Switzerland was denied the right to apply for asylum and instead sentenced to 30-day-imprisonment on the same day as Erdogan declared the need to investigate the Saudis further.
Turkey has played an important role in the Khashoggi case, leaking information to international media. While the Saudi government denied involvement in the journalists death, and even as US President Donald Trump attempted to place the blame for the murder on “rogue agents”, Turkish officials released a steady stream of details discovered during their investigation, such as the fact that the Saudi Embassy’s walls had been freshly painted before investigators were allowed into the building, the disappearance of surveillance tapes of the day Khashoggi disappeared, and most importantly, recordings from the journalist’s Apple watch – where Saudi officials could be heard torturing, dismembering and finally killing him.
On 12 October, Turkey released American pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been imprisoned in Turkey for two years in a case that severely strained relations between Turkey and the United States. The pastor’s arrest brought US sanctions on Turkey, and many believe his release was an attempt to make peace with America. The timing of his release, on the very day Turkey began to escalate investigations into the Khashoggi murder, seems significant. A weakened Saudi Arabia would inevitably benefit Turkey. Though neither government is innocent of suppressing critics in the harshest manners.
Meanwhile, Britain, Germany, and France issued a statement on 20 October, urging the Saudis to produce concrete evidence on the case to clarify details of Khashoggi’s fate. Whatever Erdogan’s motive may be for ensuring the true facts of the case are revealed, they will indubitably play a decisive role in ensuring justice for Jamal.
Assessment
Our assessment is that Turkey’s pursuit of justice for Jamal Khashoggi may have more to do with geopolitical strategy than a great regard for human rights and free speech. We believe that their resolve to regain their influence in the region has led them to play a vital role in ensuring justice for the slain journalist.
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