Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a masterclass in creating geopolitical suspense this morning. In the weeks since the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist, regime critic and Washington Post columnist, newspapers have been full of the medieval horror of his presumed killing. Mr Erdoğan knew his audience had been fed disturbing details of the cold nature of the journalist’s murder and violent dismemberment. He proved a connoisseur of dread, making his audience forget how worldly they thought they were. Instead Mr Erdoğan managed to shock: first by corroborating the story of a mafia-intensity “pre-meditated, brutal murder” in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a gang of killers sent from Riyadh. This contradicts Saudi Arabia’s explanation that the writer was accidentally killed. Second was to confirm Mr Erdoğan had no intention of dropping a case that has led Saudi Arabia to its worst diplomatic crisis since 9/11.
The Turkish leader made a point of praising the kingdom’s de jure ruler King Salman but not his son, the de facto monarch Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS. It seems inconceivable that such an audacious act was carried out without the approval of Prince Mohammed. It is likely that the Turkish government will continue leaking evidence to friendly newspapers that points to such a conclusion. Ever since his father ascended the throne in 2015, the crown prince has ruthlessly consolidated political power and proved an intolerant and vindictive opponent, arresting activists who claimed long-overdue social initiatives were down to their campaigning, not a monarch’s whim. His foreign policy disasters include the bombing and starving of civilians in neighbouring Yemen. The rhetoric of reform and modernisation in Saudi Arabia rings hollow in the face of war crimes and arbitrary jailings.
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