Turkey closes Khashoggui case file

Turkish prosecutors have asked an Istanbul court to close the case of murdered journalist Jamal Khasoggui in order to refer it to the Saudi Arabian judicial authorities. This request comes at a time when Turkey is trying to get closer to Arab countries, in a bid to improve foreign relations with its neighbouring countries, specifically with Arab countries.

According to Turkey's Anadolu Agency, Turkey's public prosecutor's office has demanded that the trial case of the 26 Saudis suspected of murdering the journalist be referred to Arab authorities. At the trial session held at the 11th criminal court in Istanbul, the Turkish prosecution has demanded to start executing the necessary steps to transfer the trial to Saudi Arabia.

Likewise, the court has decided to stop further consideration of the case and to start the necessary proceedings to get the trial transferred to the judicial authorities of the Arab country. Thus, the judicial body has decided to postpone the hearing at the same time as the Turkish Ministry of Justice stated that the defendants are foreign nationals, which impedes the progress of the case.

Journalist Jamal Khasoggui, a columnist for the Washington Post, was murdered in the Saudi Arabian embassy while in Istanbul in 2018. After the case became known, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, issued orders to reveal several officials from their positions. Subsequently, he announced the arrest of 18 Saudis who may have been linked to the case.

The case initially served to strain Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's relationship with the Saudi kingdom, leading Saudi Arabia to unofficially ban Turkish products and organise a boycott campaign against tourism in Turkey.

However, Turkey's severe economic crisis has prompted Ankara to seek Riyadh's support. The Turkish president stated his desire to 'strengthen our relations with Saudi Arabia and advance our positive dialogue with it with concrete steps in the coming period'.
 

Turkish diplomacy has been working for a year to try to forge solid and assiduous diplomatic relations with Arab countries. With this strategy, Turkey wants to stop being seen as a stubborn and unreliable partner, given its complicated relationship with EU countries. 

Turkey's Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has announced that there are "important steps" towards the normalisation of bilateral relations.

He also pointed to his meeting with Prince Faisal in Islamabad on 22 March, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, as an example of Turkey's efforts to calm relations with Riyadh.

This rapprochement on Ankara's part dates back to May last year when Turkish minister Mevlut Cavusoglu travelled to Saudi Arabia to begin talks aimed at normalising diplomatic relations. One of the points discussed was the rapprochement of Israel by Arab countries as a result of the Abraham Accords. 

While countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain have normalised and brought closer diplomatic relations and cooperation with Israel, Saudi Arabia continues to work "behind the scenes" to gradually normalise its relations with the Jewish country, as have the Arab countries mentioned above. Turkey, on the other hand, has been more vehement about a possible rapprochement with Israel because of its support for the Palestinian side in the Arab-Israeli conflict until this month.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has sealed promises of reconciliation with Erdogan after a decade of conflictive relations. According to the Turkish president, this union "is a turning point" in their bilateral relations. Moreover, this development, a consequence of the normalisation of relations between several Arab countries and Israel, highlights Turkey's position of continuing to forge ties in the region in order to increase its influence and cooperate with its neighbours at a time when Turkey is going through one of its most serious economic crises. 

Alongside this, Herzog declared that they had "chosen to embark on a journey of trust and respect. We have to recognise that we cannot agree on everything. This is normal. We will move forward to resolve these disagreements as well. We all value good neighbourliness and collaboration. Muslims, Jews and Christians can live in peace in this region," he said.

In this vein, Turkey also wants to work on diplomatic relations with Egypt, a close ally of Saudi Arabia. Turkey stressed that 'our contacts with Egypt have started at the diplomatic level' and that 'the process of diplomatic, economic and secret service cooperation with Egypt continues without any problems'.