Middle East

Trump comments on Khashoggi show he will turn blind eye to killing: Cavusoglu

Cavusoglu said there was no reason Erdogan and MBS could not meet during an upcoming G20 summit in Argentina (AFP)

US President Donald Trump's comments on the investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi show that he will turn a blind to the incident no matter what, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

On Tuesday, Trump vowed to remain a "steadfast partner" of Saudi Arabia despite saying that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) may have known about the plan to murder Khashoggi last month.

Speaking to broadcaster CNN Turk, Cavusoglu also said the United States had not informed Turkey of an audio recording regarding Khashoggi's killing, a day after after a Turkish daily reported that the CIA was in possession of a recording in which MBS gave an order to "silence Khashoggi".

However, Cavusoglu said there was no reason Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and MBS could not meet during an upcoming visit to Argentina for a G20 summit, adding the final decision was Erdogan's.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who wrote critical articles about Riyadh for the Washington Post, was murdered inside the country's Istanbul consulate on 2 October.

Earlier this week, Karen Attiah, Khashoggi's editor at the US newspaper, said MBS should not be welcomed at the G20 summit.

"World leaders should not be gripping and grinning with tyrants who order the dismemberment of writers and the torture of womens rights campaigners," she tweeted, referring to a recent Amnesty International report on the alleged torture of several Saudi human rights activists inside a Jeddah prison.

Attiah also described reports that Trump intends to meet with MBS during the summit as "disgraceful".

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