Saudi Arabia has finally admitted that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. The international community has learned the facts about the journalist's disappearance thanks to Turkey's determined efforts on the subject and statements by Turkish police that refuted the claims of Saudi officials, who desperately tried to cover up the facts. Turkey has made it clear to the world that it will take all the required steps to identify and punish the murderers.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will issue a statement today to provide further information on the incident.
As the German Green Party spokesman on foreign affairs, Omid Nouripour, expressed, Saudi Arabia is trying to fool the entire world.
All the statements issued by Saudi Arabia on the subject are contradictory. First, they claimed that Khashoggi left the consulate shortly after entering. And when Turkish police disproved the claim, they said Khashoggi was killed by accident in an altercation that started during an interrogation. They went on to claim that Khashoggi resisted 15 security guards and when the guards tried to hold him, they pressed on his neck a little too much and he could not breathe. This explanation makes one wonder how a 60-year-old man could give 15 specially trained security guards a hard time.
The world disregarded the statements issued by Saudi Arabia as tall tales. All the claims, such as the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was not involved in the murder, Khashoggi's body was wrapped in a carpet and thrown out somewhere in Istanbul, and those responsible will be punished, do nothing but worsen Saudi Arabia's already-tarnished public image.
Therefore, the world is currently relying on information provided by Turkish security units and waits for further remarks from Turkey on the subject.
Some U.S. senators have even suggested the case be investigated by security units of countries like the U.S., Germany and Britain, instead of Saudi Arabia or Turkey, which do not have any viability. Had Turkey not investigated the case and uncovered the facts, no one in the U.S. or Germany would suggest stopping the arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
It would be much more reasonable to trust Turkish police than President Donald Trump to reveal the details of the murder as Turkey is not the one wrapped up in a multibillion-dollar weapons deal with Saudi Arabia. The countries making a profit by selling weapons to Saudi Arabia are obvious. Now it is time for them to take a firm stance.
The U.S. approach is evident. The steps taken by the U.S. administration are only facile despite the fact that Saudi Arabia - which is being used as a mediator in the U.S. plans to take advantage of the Syrian civil war - played the leading role in the murder. If the U.S. had wanted to keep its nose out of this gruesome murder, it should not have uttered a single word on the subject.
However, Trump continues to issue statements like an anxious merchant trying to peddle his products. He keeps attempting to appease the domestic political scene of the U.S. with the lie that some "One million people will be provided employment thanks to the arms deal signed with Saudi Arabia." I hope U.S. citizens, who expect Washington to pursue justice for the murder, will call Trump into account in November's midterm elections for selling weapons to a murderous state.
The discussion on arms sales to Saudi Arabia also continues in Germany, but the wrong decision is about to be made on the delivery of three previously agreed upon assault boats. No matter what, no weapons should be delivered to a country that killed a journalist - probably after torturing him - in a consulate building.
So, the European public expects the EU to make a decision on the subject that will bind all the other countries in the bloc. No EU country is to sell any weapons to Saudi Arabia until the perpetrators and abettors of this murder are identified and receive the punishment they deserve.
We will see what is more important to the EU: European values and human dignity, or Saudi dollars.