10-07-2018, 11:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-07-2018, 11:16 PM by John J. Xenakis.)
*** 8-Oct-18 World View -- Suspicious disappearance of Saudi journalist in Turkey threatens to upset Mideast relations
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Suspicious disappearance of Saudi journalist in Turkey threatens to upset Mideast relations
****
![[Image: g181007b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g181007b.jpg)
The Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Sunday (AP)
Turkey's media are now saying with increasing certainty that that the
Saudi journalist who visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on
Tuesday and never came out was murdered by the Saudis and that his
body was removed by a group of 12 Saudi officials.
The sequence of events was as follow. Jamal Khashoggi, 59, is a Saudi
journalist who writes for the Washington Post, and who has been
increasingly critical of Saudi's participation in the war in Yemen,
and of the human rights record of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, who has been running the country since 2015. Fearing for his
life, Khashoggi has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States
for the last year.
On September 28, he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get
marriage documents related to his planned marriage to his fiancé, a
Turkish citizen, Hatice (Khadija) Cengiz. On Tuesday of last week,
October 2, he returned to the consulate. Before entering the
consulate, he told his fiancé, who was going to wait in the car, that
if he wasn't out within 20 minutes, she should alert the Turkish
authorities.
He didn't come out, and she raised the alarm. The situation reached
the top diplomatic levels between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Saudi
Arabia claimed that Khashoggi had left the embassy without anyone
noticing. Turkey's forensic analysis examined all the CCTV footage
for the consulate entrances and exits, for the area around the
consulate, and at the airport, and could find no sign of Khashoggi.
On Sunday, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Khashoggi a
"journalist and a friend," and said,
<QUOTE>"God willing, we will not be faced with an undesirable
situation we do not want. His fiancé hopes the same. Whatever
comes of this, we will be the ones to declare it to the world. It
is very, very upsetting for us that it happened in our
country."<END QUOTE>
However, according to media reports, Turkish officials are
increasingly convinced that the Saudis killed Khashoggi.
Investigation revealed that on Tuesday morning, the day when Khashoggi
was scheduled to return to the consulate, 12 Saudi officials arrived
in Istanbul in two private jets, and went to the consulate. Shortly
after Khashoggi entered the consulate, never to be seen again, the 12
Saudi officials returned to the airport and flew back to Saudi Arabia.
Turkish officials reportedly believe that those 12 Saudi officials
killed Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and then
transported his dead body back to Saudi Arabia.
The president of Turk-Arab Media Association, Turan Kislakci, said on
Sunday that his organization has confirmed through multiple sources
that Khashoggi was murdered:
<QUOTE>"There is evidence that he was murdered. We initially
thought Jamal Khashoggi was kept at the guest house [at the
consulate] and that he was taken out afterwards. However, we have
confirmed through multiple sources that he was killed. The details
will be explained."<END QUOTE>
However, a Saudi official is saying that the Turkish accusations are
"baseless," and that a team of Saudi investigators will take part in
the investigation.
In addition, Saudi media are claiming that the woman named "Khadijah"
is "promoting herself as Jamal’s fiancé," but is not known to Jamal's
family and she is not his fiancé.
Hurriyet (Turkey) and Globe Post (Turkey) and Washington Post and Saudi Gazette
****
**** Khashoggi incident threatens Saudi relationship with the West
****
The Turks are furious at this, and if it's true that the Saudis
performed an assassination of a journalist on Turkish soil, then they
expect to treat it as a major international incident.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia relations are already at a deep low.
Recall that in June of last year, several Arab states, including Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and United Arab Emirates (UAE), broke relations
with Qatar and imposed an air, sea and land blockade on Qatar.
Amazingly enough, that blockade is
still in place. International attempts at mediation have failed, and
the rhetoric has, if anything, gotten worse.
From the beginning, Turkey has been highly critical of the blockade,
and has helped Qatar by sending troops to Qatar in support, and by
increasing trade with Qatar, circumventing the blockade.
Saudi Arabia has made a number of demands on Qatar to end the crisis.
These include ending all relationships with Iran and Turkey, ending
support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and shutting down al-Jazeera,
which has been highly critical of Saudi Arabia -- things that are
never going to happen.
In the current febrile atmosphere in the Mideast, the Khashoggi
incident could have larger implications. It could cause the US and
Europe to reevaluate their relationships with Saudi Arabia, and with
Turkish officials so enraged by this, it could trigger a more serious
response. Al-Jazeera and France 24 and Al Monitor and AFP
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Turkey, Istanbul, Saudi Arabia,
Jamal Khashoggi, Hatice (Khadija) Cengiz,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mohammed bin Salman, Turan Kislakci,
Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Qatar
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Suspicious disappearance of Saudi journalist in Turkey threatens to upset Mideast relations
- Khashoggi incident threatens Saudi relationship with the West
****
**** Suspicious disappearance of Saudi journalist in Turkey threatens to upset Mideast relations
****
The Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Sunday (AP)
Turkey's media are now saying with increasing certainty that that the
Saudi journalist who visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on
Tuesday and never came out was murdered by the Saudis and that his
body was removed by a group of 12 Saudi officials.
The sequence of events was as follow. Jamal Khashoggi, 59, is a Saudi
journalist who writes for the Washington Post, and who has been
increasingly critical of Saudi's participation in the war in Yemen,
and of the human rights record of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, who has been running the country since 2015. Fearing for his
life, Khashoggi has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States
for the last year.
On September 28, he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get
marriage documents related to his planned marriage to his fiancé, a
Turkish citizen, Hatice (Khadija) Cengiz. On Tuesday of last week,
October 2, he returned to the consulate. Before entering the
consulate, he told his fiancé, who was going to wait in the car, that
if he wasn't out within 20 minutes, she should alert the Turkish
authorities.
He didn't come out, and she raised the alarm. The situation reached
the top diplomatic levels between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Saudi
Arabia claimed that Khashoggi had left the embassy without anyone
noticing. Turkey's forensic analysis examined all the CCTV footage
for the consulate entrances and exits, for the area around the
consulate, and at the airport, and could find no sign of Khashoggi.
On Sunday, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Khashoggi a
"journalist and a friend," and said,
<QUOTE>"God willing, we will not be faced with an undesirable
situation we do not want. His fiancé hopes the same. Whatever
comes of this, we will be the ones to declare it to the world. It
is very, very upsetting for us that it happened in our
country."<END QUOTE>
However, according to media reports, Turkish officials are
increasingly convinced that the Saudis killed Khashoggi.
Investigation revealed that on Tuesday morning, the day when Khashoggi
was scheduled to return to the consulate, 12 Saudi officials arrived
in Istanbul in two private jets, and went to the consulate. Shortly
after Khashoggi entered the consulate, never to be seen again, the 12
Saudi officials returned to the airport and flew back to Saudi Arabia.
Turkish officials reportedly believe that those 12 Saudi officials
killed Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and then
transported his dead body back to Saudi Arabia.
The president of Turk-Arab Media Association, Turan Kislakci, said on
Sunday that his organization has confirmed through multiple sources
that Khashoggi was murdered:
<QUOTE>"There is evidence that he was murdered. We initially
thought Jamal Khashoggi was kept at the guest house [at the
consulate] and that he was taken out afterwards. However, we have
confirmed through multiple sources that he was killed. The details
will be explained."<END QUOTE>
However, a Saudi official is saying that the Turkish accusations are
"baseless," and that a team of Saudi investigators will take part in
the investigation.
In addition, Saudi media are claiming that the woman named "Khadijah"
is "promoting herself as Jamal’s fiancé," but is not known to Jamal's
family and she is not his fiancé.
Hurriyet (Turkey) and Globe Post (Turkey) and Washington Post and Saudi Gazette
****
**** Khashoggi incident threatens Saudi relationship with the West
****
The Turks are furious at this, and if it's true that the Saudis
performed an assassination of a journalist on Turkish soil, then they
expect to treat it as a major international incident.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia relations are already at a deep low.
Recall that in June of last year, several Arab states, including Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and United Arab Emirates (UAE), broke relations
with Qatar and imposed an air, sea and land blockade on Qatar.
Amazingly enough, that blockade is
still in place. International attempts at mediation have failed, and
the rhetoric has, if anything, gotten worse.
From the beginning, Turkey has been highly critical of the blockade,
and has helped Qatar by sending troops to Qatar in support, and by
increasing trade with Qatar, circumventing the blockade.
Saudi Arabia has made a number of demands on Qatar to end the crisis.
These include ending all relationships with Iran and Turkey, ending
support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and shutting down al-Jazeera,
which has been highly critical of Saudi Arabia -- things that are
never going to happen.
In the current febrile atmosphere in the Mideast, the Khashoggi
incident could have larger implications. It could cause the US and
Europe to reevaluate their relationships with Saudi Arabia, and with
Turkish officials so enraged by this, it could trigger a more serious
response. Al-Jazeera and France 24 and Al Monitor and AFP
Related Articles
- Egypt calls Qatar an 'enemy state' (30-Jun-2016)
- Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations cut ties with Qatar in new Mideast crisis (06-Jun-2017)
- Saudi Arabia threatens further sanctions against Qatar if demands are not met (04-Jul-2017)
- Trump's Mideast visit triggers renewal of sharp split between Saudi Arabia and Qatar (26-May-2017)
- Donald Trump promises to solve the Gulf crisis 'fairly easily' (13-Sep-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Turkey, Istanbul, Saudi Arabia,
Jamal Khashoggi, Hatice (Khadija) Cengiz,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mohammed bin Salman, Turan Kislakci,
Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Qatar
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
