President Tayyip Erdogan said recordings in connection with the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with Western allies, are “appalling” and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.
Khashoggi was a critic of de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and he was killed in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a hit which according to the president of Turkey was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.
“We played the recordings regarding this murder to everyone who wanted them from us. Our intelligence organisation did not hide anything. We played them to all who wanted them including the Saudis, the USA, France, Canada, Germany, Britain,” he said.
“The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings he was so shocked he said: ‘This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this’,” he added.
Khashoggi’s murder has caused global outrage however not enough evidence is there to link major powers against Saudi Arabia.
President of the US seems reluctant to punish Saudi Arabia economically, citing the kingdom’s multibillion-dollar purchases of US military equipment and investments in U.S. companies.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton said he did not think that people who heard the recordings concluded that the crown prince was linked to the killing. “And certainly that is not the position of the Saudi government,” he said in Singapore.
Asked again if the audio tape provided by Turkey did not link Prince Mohammed to the killing in any way, Bolton said: “I haven’t listened to the tape myself but in the assessment of those who have listened to it, that is right.”