Ankara seeks stable ties with Riyadh but demands answers on Khashoggi murder
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants those arrested in Saudi Arabia over the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to be tried in Turkey.
Turkey’s relationship with Saudi Arabia may be a loveless one because of the rivalry between the two regional powers for influence in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the relationship has been a cordial one for pragmatic reasons, in which the sides have always sought to contain any crisis between them.
This is undoubtedly why Ankara is treading relatively cautiously in its approach to the now confirmed murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
It is generally believed that the Turkish side has been holding back officially to give Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud time to work out a credible formula for sorting out this problem. Ankara is seeking a formula that does not harm bilateral ties but that also assuages Turkish anger over the selection of Turkey for carrying out this crime.
More than three weeks have elapsed since the murder of Khashoggi. Nevertheless, Ankara has taken its time to officially reveal what facts it has already established.
