Turkey insists on UN probe into Khashoggi murder

ANKARA

Turkey is working with other countries to carry the investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to the United Nations, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Dec. 24. 

“An ongoing probe in Turkey is deepening, and there are joint efforts with some other countries to take this issue to the U.N.,” Çavuşoğlu said at a news conference in Tunis alongside his Tunisian counterpart.

Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate by a death squad in Istanbul nearly three months ago.

“We expect Saudi Arabia to transparently share its findings of the ongoing probe with us and the international community,” Çavuşoğlu said.

“Because those who killed Khashoggi, cut his body into pieces and hide it are from Saudi Arabia. Those who gave the order [for the murder] are also from Saudi Arabia. They have not informed us on where they buried the body or what they did to it,” he added.

Riyadh has not given Ankara the name of a claimed “local coconspirator,” Çavuşoğlu said.

“The people who have to answer these questions are in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The Turkish foreign minister had made a similar call for a U.N. probe while speaking to a group of journalists on Dec. 20 in Geneva.

“A second option is setting up a fact-finding mission at the U.N. This does not require a U.N. Security Council decision. It could be started by either the secretary-general or Human Rights Committee,” he said.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s top diplomat also slammed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, likening him to the outlawed PKK.

The Israeli premier “lately seemed disturbed because he knows he couldn’t divide Syria using the PKK/YPG as he has sympathy for the PKK terrorist group,” Çavuşoğlu said.

The YPG is the Syrian arm of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey.

“When his plan collapsed, he seemed disturbed. The common feature of the PKK and Netanyahu is that they are both baby killers,” he said.

On Dec. 23, Netanyahu in a Twitter post angered Ankara for his remarks about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodğan over Turkey’s military operations in the country’s southeast and Cyprus issues.

Erdoğan said on Dec. 23 Netanyahu is heading “state terror,” responding to his tweet.

Turkish soldiers have killed more than 3,000 ISIL militants in Syria and nearly 1,000 in Iraq, Çavuşoğlu added.

Asked about the situation in Libya, the minister said Turkey asked NATO to increase its training support in the country.

“But beyond that, we fully support the ongoing political process [in Libya] and the efforts of the United Nations, as well as the efforts of [the U.N. envoy to Libya] Ghassan Salame together with Tunisia. That’s why I visited Libya two days ago,” he said.

Çavuşoğlu also congratulated Tunisia for its democratic and successful local elections.

“We need to further develop our economic relations. Turkey also does not think differently from Tunisia about having a balanced trade,” he said.