ISTANBUL BLOG: Indications Saudi ruler MbS wants end of Khashoggi trial as pre-requisite for Erdogan meeting

ISTANBUL BLOG: Indications Saudi ruler MbS wants end of Khashoggi trial as pre-requisite for Erdogan meeting
Erdogan appears to want to offer the hand of friendship to MbS.
By Akin Nazli in Belgrade March 31, 2022

A Turkish prosecutor has asked for the dismissal of charges filed in relation to the bloody assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and the transferral of the case to Saudi Arabia, local media reported on March 31.

The court will reportedly ask for the views of the Turkish Justice Ministry on the matter.

In October 2018, Saudi citizen Khashoggi, who was at the time a Washington Post columnist with a reputation for criticising the political direction of his homeland, was brutally murdered by a Saudi hit squad inside the Istanbul consulate of Saudi Arabia.

Lately, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been attempting to mend his country's soured relations with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS and as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.

In January, Erdogan said that he was shortly planning to visit the kingdom. However, no such visit has taken place. There is speculation that MbS has demanded the end of the Khashoggi trial in Turkey as a pre-requisite to a meeting with the Turkish leader.

Hatice Cengiz was Khashoggi’s fiancee.

Dismiss