The case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in 2018, has been closed and transferred to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Comment:
Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist known for his opposing articles against the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, was brutally murdered on October 2, 2018 at the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, where he entered for marriage procedures. With a surprise decision, the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court, which is looking at this murder case, decided to transfer the file to Saudi Arabia. The murder file was sent to Riyadh with the positive expression of the Ministry of Justice on the transfer of the file to Saudi Arabia.
In fact, the transfer of the case of Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia means that this case has been closed for ever. Indeed, it also means that the case is over handed to the murderers.
However, President Erdogan said the following about this case: “It must not be forgotten that this murder took place within the borders of Turkey. No one should ever think of closing this case.”
Speaking again about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Erdogan once said: “It is clear to me who the perpetrator of this is. We have also learned from the audio recordings that those closest to the current Crown Prince are the ones who are taking an active role in this business. There are those who follow the instructions and didn’t even give the information to the Istanbul Attorney General. Because the perpetrator is obvious, they know it. He is also the one who gave a hand” and personally blamed Riyadh for the murder.
Well then, what happened that made the thoughts of Erdogan change totally? Yet, we are familiar with those turning expressions of Erdogan.
President Erdogan closed the case on American instructions and for the 3-5 billion dollars that will come from Riyadh. Like he did with the case of Mavi Marmara, where the murderers of ten innocent Turkish citizens were covered up, leaving its perpetrators without punishment.
Similarly, Erdogan quickly built bridges and began to give warm messages with United Arab Emirates, who were actually accused of the coup of 15 July, with the Sisi regime, who took the lead by overthrowing Mohammed Morsi with a coup and killed thousands of Muslims and the extortionist Jewish presence that occupied Palestine. Not content with these crimes, President Erdogan also reflected on the media that he had made attempts to improve relations with the cruel Assad regime, which had massacred close to a million Muslims including children.
The awful situation of Erdogan that he is all talk but no action shows his weakness. All these incoherent expressions and actions of Erdogan indicates his Machiavellist mind-set in politics. Indeed, he once expressed that he would even put on a pope’s cloth to be on power.
One of the incidents that reflected this U-turn and weak will in President Erdogan’s rhetoric was related to the American priest Brunson, who was accused of alleged espionage and was imprisoned for a period. Regarding Brunson, Erdogan says, “You want Pastor Brunson? You have a priest (meaning Fethullah Gülen), give him to us, let’s judge, and we’ll give him to you” he said. But again, not long after these words, Brunson was released at the request of former US president Trump. In the same way, we have seen Erdogan’s weak will in the case of journalist Deniz Yucel, who was released at the request of Germany.
Therefore, President Erdogan has a pragmatist mentality, acting in accordance with interests and political conjuncture. However, being able to stand behind the words spoken requires a strong will along with it. Unfortunately, this is also a feature that is not present in managers of a democratic character.
Yılmaz Çelik