Turkey on Friday accused United States President Donald Trump of wanting to “turn a blind eye” to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, AFP reported.
“In one sense, Trump is saying ‘I will turn a blind eye’,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with CNN Turk, referring to Trump’s continued support for Saudi Arabia.
Trump on Tuesday had defended Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has denied any involvement in the murder. “I’m not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia,” Trump had said.
Khashoggi, a vocal critic of the Saudi regime, went missing on October 2 when he was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for paperwork for his upcoming marriage. Initially, Saudi Arabia claimed to have no knowledge about his disappearance but later admitted that agents working without Riyadh’s knowledge had killed him.
On November 15, Saudi Arabia said it had indicted 11 suspects for the murder and prosecutors had sought the death penalty for five of them.
A day later, the Central Intelligence Agency of the US concluded that Salman had ordered Khashoggi’s killing. However, Trump has continued to supported Salman, saying on Thursday that the CIA report has not conclusively blamed the crown prince for the murder.
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