By Daily Sabah News
Saudi Arabia’s own intelligence officers said the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a “disaster” when Turkey allowed them to listen to the audiotapes of the murder, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday.
In a live broadcast interview with Turkuvaz Media Group broadcasters, Erdoğan slammed the CIA and U.S. for failing to “put their full weight” behind an investigation into the Saudi journalist’s death.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump failed to meet a 120-day deadline to provide a report to Congress on the killing. Also last week, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial and Arbitrary Executions Agnes Callamard concluded after a visit to Turkey that Saudi Arabia not only planned and perpetrated the killing but also hindered Turkey’s investigation efforts.
“I must thank the Turkuvaz Media Group for revealing some important information on the Khashoggi murder, which, as far as I know, will be published not only in Turkish but also in English and Arabic,” the Turkish president said.
Erdoğan also said the fifth and next Turkey-Russia-Iran leaders’ meeting on Syria will be held in Turkey, noting that the latest Sochi summit was very productive and useful. Erdoğan and his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani met in Sochi on Thursday to discuss the ongoing peace process in Syria.
