Our security have information, being investigated and the information suggest that it is a planned incident and will be passed on to prosecutor, so trying to blame intelligent will not satisfy anyone but when all those involved were penalised appropriately. I don’t doubt the sincerity of the king but at the same time, it is very important for the inquiry to be carried out by an impartial team, collaborators from other country could be included, international law, Islamic law and I believe Saudi laws believe in this. Turkey will pursue this, I will call on the King of Saudi and high level of Saudi, the incident has happened in Istanbul, this team of 15 plus 3 should be tried in Istanbul, this is my proposition and my request because this is where the incident took place
Emmanuel Ukudolo l Tuesday, October 23, 2018
ISTANBUL, Turkey – President of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today called on the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to allow 18 people arrested by the Saudi authority in connection with the murder of international journalist, Jamal Kashioggi to be tried in Turkey.
Kashioggi was killed October 2 when he visited the consulate to perfect paper for his marriage to his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. According to reports, Kashioggi’s finger was cut and he was then moved into a meeting room, injected with nerve agent and dismembered.
But Erdogan who made the call while addressing parliament in Istanbul said that though the ‘Ferocious Murder’ was committed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the incident happened within the territorial border of Turkey and that it is only normal that the trial take place in Turkey.
The President said that intelligence at his disposal suggest that the incident was carefully planned and that 15 generals flew into Turkey from Saudi Arabia before meeting at the consulate in Turkey, adding that on the day the murder was carried out, staff working in the consulate were assembled in a single room under guise of an audit before they were granted leave.
He said that the 15 people that flew in and the three other staff in the consulate that joined them in the ferocious murder must be punished, stressing that international law, Islamic law and Saudi Arabia law supports it.
Erdogan explained that Turkey has the right to investigate the murder since the Vienna convention allows, since crime of this sought was not covered by immunity but there was an initial resistant by the Consul General but that when he passed the information to the King, the Consul General was replaced.
“I passed on the message to the King and within one week, the Consul General was removed from office, on the 19 of October, the Saudi officially accepted that Jamal Kashioggi was killed in the consulate and that he died in a fight that broke out. So that same day I had conversation with the King and he told me that 18 people being part of the incident have been arrested, and we found that that they are the same people we uncovered , the 15 people who came in and 3 others at the consulate”, he said.
Erdogan said he also had discussions with President Donald Trump of the United States on the 15th of October and that parties agreed that the matter be clarifestied.
“We have carried out this investigation in line with international principle”, he said, adding that various media outlets carried out campaign to discredit this investigation, but that this assassination attempt aimed at ‘our country did not deter us’.
“As a matter of fact ,murder was carried out at Saudi consulate but let’s not forget it is within the border of Turkey, Vienna convention says inquiry of this sort cannot be prevented on the basis of diplomatic immunity. Jamal Khashioggi is a citizen of Saudi, but he is a journalist known worldwide. Turkey represents the conscience of people all over the world. The information shows khashioggi was murdered in a ferocious manner, so to try and hid such ferocious murder will be inhuman to humanity. We will accept action from Saudi Arabia. By accepting, they have taken a good step, but we want them to reveal all those involved and give them appropriate punishment.
“We have information that it was something that was planned. We want answer to these question, ‘On whose order did they come there, why was the consulate building opened for investigation not immediately but days after, even when the murder was committed why conflicting statement, why has the body of Jamal Kashioggi not been found?
“If the body was given to the person collaborating with the incident, then who is this local collaborator who has taken possession of the body? It is an official of Saudi that is saying it. You are obliged to reveal the identity of the local collaborator, this investigation will not be closed until answers are found.
“Our security have information, being investigated and the information suggest that it is a planned incident and will be passed on to prosecutor, so trying to blame intelligent will not satisfy anyone but when all those involved were penalised appropriately. I don’t doubt the sincerity of the king but at the same time, it is very important for the inquiry to be carried out by an impartial team, collaborators from other country could be included, international law, Islamic law and I believe Saudi laws believe in this. Turkey will pursue this, I will call on the King of Saudi and high level of Saudi, the incident has happened in Istanbul, this team of 15 plus 3 should be tried in Istanbul, this is my proposition and my request because this is where the incident took place”, he said and that the authority removed the hard disk from the CCTV at the consulate.
