Turkey Vows to Prosecute All Involved in Khashoggi’s Case
Yasin Aktay told the Palestinian Shehab news agency on Tuesday that all those who had a hand in Jamal Khashoggi’s death will face prosecution “even if it is the Saudi consul himself or Saudi officials.
“Turkey is a state of law and prosecutes anyone who commits crimes in its territory,” he said, adding, “This will be a file between Saudi Arabia and us.”
On Friday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Turkey could search the consulate for the missing dissident. He claimed that Khashoggi had left the building not long after he entered earlier this week. “If he’s in Saudi Arabia, I would know that.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Saudi officials must prove that Khashoggi had left the mission.
Aktay said bin Salman’s decision to allow inspection of the building no earlier than a few days after Khashoggi’s disappearance showed “contempt for Turkey.”
The Turkish official also said the consulate and Saudi authorities had ignored Turkish contacts after the disappearance of Khashoggi.
“As if the Saudi authorities were asleep and there was a strange silence at a time when the news of Khashoggi’s disappearance was spread in the world,” he said, Press TV reported.
The head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association in Turkey, Turan Kislakci told the agency that Turkish officials assured him that Khashoggi had been brutally murdered inside the consulate.
Aktay further said, “To insult the man who comes to the consulate and kill him at your home is one of the worst acts and gravest sins.”
A Turkish forensics team is, meanwhile, poised to enter the premises in Istanbul, the Middle East Eye (MEE) news portal reported.
