For weeks, the whole world has been talking about the Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi who "disappeared" after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Last week, when Riyadh admitted that Khashoggi was murdered as a result of an "accident" during an interrogation, the debate over the scandal story changed dimension. On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the final point reached in the police investigation. Erdoğan, who has been determinedly cracking down on the murder protected under the "armor of diplomatic immunity," directed the following questions to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
Why did the 15 people with qualifications related to the incident (a forensic expert, et cetera) gather in Istanbul on the day of the murder?
On whose order did this team come to the consulate?
Why was the consulate not opened immediately for investigation, but days later?
Why were dozens of inconsistent explanations made despite the clarity of the murder?
Why is the body of a person, the murder of whom has been officially admitted, still missing?
If the statement claims that the body was given to a local collaborator, how is Saudi Arabia unable to explain who this local collaborator is?
Since Saudi Arabia still unable to answer these significant questions, I, as a Turkish journalist who has been following the developments closely, will give the answers instead.
It is no coincidence that the 15-member team, consisting of intelligence officers, torture experts and forensic experts, was at the consulate at the same time as Khashoggi, who was declared dead during the interrogation.
It is not hard to guess whose orders the team acted under, as all of them are the buddies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
By any rule of law, a consulate building where a murder occurred cannot be left for 10 days as if nothing happened. If they had not committed the murder themselves, they would not be locking the doors from the inside so the police could not get in.
The Saudis did not consider details such as his fiancee, whom Khashoggi gave phone numbers to before entering the consulate building by saying "If I do not return in a few hours, call them." When the murder allegations came to light earlier than their predictions, they made contradictory statements in order to gain time to remove the evidence. Like any murderer who is in a panic.
You need be blind to not know that a person who dies should be immediately dismembered and thrown into a place where no one can reach them (such as the sea) in such cases.
I hope that the local collaborator, who is said to have been delivered Khashoggi's body, is alive.
As you can see, the Khashoggi incident, which is reminiscent of violent murders committed behind the scenes in Greek tragedies, has turned into a terrible comedy. The Saudis do not give a damn if the world feels ashamed, instead of laughing at this bad play.
This is because the Saudis are at the helm of the petrodollar balance in global markets. Russia, which wants to increase oil prices, unlike the U.S., has already started winking at the Saudis.
Let us see which leader of which civilization will give in to the bribe the Saudis will offer in order to ignore Erdoğan's questions. History will be recording this.
