ASSESSMENTS

Why Turkey Isn't Burning Bridges With Saudi Arabia Over Khashoggi

Oct 29, 2018 | 09:00 GMT

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks about the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a weekly parliamentary address on Oct. 23 in Ankara.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks about the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a weekly parliamentary address on Oct. 23 in Ankara. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are battling for influence throughout the Sunni world.

(Getty Images)

Highlights

  • The fallout from the Khashoggi affair underlines a larger battle between Turkey and Saudi Arabia for influence throughout the Sunni world that will continue in the religious, political and economic spheres.
  • Turkey may be trying to use its muted response to coax Saudi Arabia into stopping its cooperation with Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, or possibly into to reducing Saudi economic pressure on Qatar, Turkey's major regional ally.
  • Their slowly growing defense and economic ties will mitigate the chances of a complete rupture between Ankara and Riyadh.

For weeks, allegations of criminality and a cover-up have consumed the Turkish media after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Three weeks later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament that Saudi authorities had planned the dissident's slaying. Erdogan has a penchant for bombast, but the speech was understated, and the president even issued a cordial appeal to Saudi King Salman to cooperate in exposing the truth in the Khashoggi affair. Conspicuously, Erdogan elected not to mention the elephant in the room: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely believed to have played a role in the killing....

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