Shapur Zol Aktaf
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Turkish officials say critic of crown prince’s leadership has been detained by Saudis in Istanbul consulate
ISTANBUL—Turkey and Saudi Arabia were at odds over the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist in Istanbul in a case that risks damaging relations between the two regional powers.
Turkish officials said they were convinced that Jamal Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was being held in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul more than 24 hours after he entered.
“According to information we have, this individual…is still at the consulate as of now,” presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Ankara on Wednesday.
Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi's Turkish fiancée, left, waited Wednesday in front of the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, where she said Mr. Khashoggi had entered Tuesday and not emerged. PHOTO: OZAN KOSE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Mr. Khashoggi, 59 years old, entered the consulate at around 1 p.m. on Tuesday and hasn’t emerged from the building since, according to his fiancée, who accompanied him there and was still waiting for him near the compound on Wednesday.
A Saudi official said the journalist wasn’t inside. “Mr. Khashoggi visited the consulate to request paperwork related to his marital status and exited shortly thereafter,” the official said. “He is not in the consulate nor in Saudi custody.”
The U.S. is closely following the reports and trying to get more information, a State Department official said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke by phone Wednesday with Prince Mohammed about regional issues, including Yemen and Iran, said the official, who declined to say if they discussed Mr. Khashoggi.
The journalist’s disappearance is becoming the latest flashpoint between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are competing for influence in the region.
Tensions have grown between the countries since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed Qatar in its dispute with Saudi Arabia last year.
Turkey maintains a military base in Doha that can accommodate up to 5,000 troops; Saudi Arabia demanded Turkish troops withdraw as one of its conditions for ending the standoff with Qatar. In December, Mr. Erdogan instead sent more troops, a move seen as an effort to prevent Saudi Arabia from taking military action in the dispute. In August, Qatar pledged to invest $15 billion in the ailing Turkish economy.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia also differ over Ankara’s sympathetic view of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that Saudi Arabia and its allies consider a terrorist organization.
Under Prince Mohammed’s leadership, Saudi Arabia has pursued a more confrontational foreign policy largely aimed at asserting the kingdom’s leadership in the Middle East. It has stepped up efforts to curb the influence of its regional rivals, including by entering a war in neighboring Yemen against rebels backed by Iran, the kingdom’s No. 1 foe.
Prince Mohammed, who has broad sway over the country’s affairs, is behind some of the kingdom’s most liberal reforms in decades, from allowing women to drive to lifting a ban on cinemas.
Under his watch, the Saudi government has also shown a zero-tolerance approach to dissent. Dozens of high-profile Saudis have been put in jail, among them some of the country’s best-known women’s rights activists.
The crackdown has fueled diplomatic tensions as the kingdom has shown little patience with countries questioning its human-rights record.
In August, Saudi Arabia declared the Canadian ambassador persona non grata after Canada criticized the kingdom for arresting human-rights activists. A similar diplomatic clash occurred with Germany in late 2017.
The latest standoff, playing out at the Saudi consulate in a back street of Istanbul’s Levent business district, drew new attention to the Saudi drive to crush dissent.
Mr. Khashoggi left Saudi Arabia last year to live in Washington. Since then, he has feared that Saudi authorities might attempt to detain him, said his fiancée, a Turkish citizen who asked not to be named.
“He was never comfortable, even in the U.S.,” she said.
Turkey has jailed thousands of people since a failed coup attempt against Mr. Erdogan in July 2016, and has sought extradition of alleged coup supporters. But the disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi in Istanbul could raise concerns about sovereignty at home.
Mr. Khashoggi had an appointment at the Saudi consulate on Tuesday to collect paperwork related to his divorce, his fiancée said.
The Saudi journalist left his two cellphones with his fiancée before walking into the consulate and couldn’t be reached.
Turkish authorities grew fully certain that Mr. Khashoggi remained inside the consulate premises after poring over footage from surveillance cameras at the front and back of the building, according to a person familiar with the matter. Authorities have heightened controls at border checkpoints, the person said.
A first meeting at the consulate on Friday had gone well, Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancée recalled. But because he was rushed for time, he had agreed to return after the weekend, she said.
“He felt reassured because one consular clerk had told Jamal that he was following him on Twitter and admired his work,” she said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/missin...om-on-collision-course-with-turkey-1538586856
ISTANBUL—Turkey and Saudi Arabia were at odds over the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist in Istanbul in a case that risks damaging relations between the two regional powers.
Turkish officials said they were convinced that Jamal Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was being held in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul more than 24 hours after he entered.
“According to information we have, this individual…is still at the consulate as of now,” presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Ankara on Wednesday.
Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi's Turkish fiancée, left, waited Wednesday in front of the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, where she said Mr. Khashoggi had entered Tuesday and not emerged. PHOTO: OZAN KOSE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Mr. Khashoggi, 59 years old, entered the consulate at around 1 p.m. on Tuesday and hasn’t emerged from the building since, according to his fiancée, who accompanied him there and was still waiting for him near the compound on Wednesday.
A Saudi official said the journalist wasn’t inside. “Mr. Khashoggi visited the consulate to request paperwork related to his marital status and exited shortly thereafter,” the official said. “He is not in the consulate nor in Saudi custody.”
The U.S. is closely following the reports and trying to get more information, a State Department official said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke by phone Wednesday with Prince Mohammed about regional issues, including Yemen and Iran, said the official, who declined to say if they discussed Mr. Khashoggi.
The journalist’s disappearance is becoming the latest flashpoint between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are competing for influence in the region.
Tensions have grown between the countries since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed Qatar in its dispute with Saudi Arabia last year.
Turkey maintains a military base in Doha that can accommodate up to 5,000 troops; Saudi Arabia demanded Turkish troops withdraw as one of its conditions for ending the standoff with Qatar. In December, Mr. Erdogan instead sent more troops, a move seen as an effort to prevent Saudi Arabia from taking military action in the dispute. In August, Qatar pledged to invest $15 billion in the ailing Turkish economy.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia also differ over Ankara’s sympathetic view of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that Saudi Arabia and its allies consider a terrorist organization.
Under Prince Mohammed’s leadership, Saudi Arabia has pursued a more confrontational foreign policy largely aimed at asserting the kingdom’s leadership in the Middle East. It has stepped up efforts to curb the influence of its regional rivals, including by entering a war in neighboring Yemen against rebels backed by Iran, the kingdom’s No. 1 foe.
Prince Mohammed, who has broad sway over the country’s affairs, is behind some of the kingdom’s most liberal reforms in decades, from allowing women to drive to lifting a ban on cinemas.
Under his watch, the Saudi government has also shown a zero-tolerance approach to dissent. Dozens of high-profile Saudis have been put in jail, among them some of the country’s best-known women’s rights activists.
The crackdown has fueled diplomatic tensions as the kingdom has shown little patience with countries questioning its human-rights record.
In August, Saudi Arabia declared the Canadian ambassador persona non grata after Canada criticized the kingdom for arresting human-rights activists. A similar diplomatic clash occurred with Germany in late 2017.
The latest standoff, playing out at the Saudi consulate in a back street of Istanbul’s Levent business district, drew new attention to the Saudi drive to crush dissent.
Mr. Khashoggi left Saudi Arabia last year to live in Washington. Since then, he has feared that Saudi authorities might attempt to detain him, said his fiancée, a Turkish citizen who asked not to be named.
“He was never comfortable, even in the U.S.,” she said.
Turkey has jailed thousands of people since a failed coup attempt against Mr. Erdogan in July 2016, and has sought extradition of alleged coup supporters. But the disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi in Istanbul could raise concerns about sovereignty at home.
Mr. Khashoggi had an appointment at the Saudi consulate on Tuesday to collect paperwork related to his divorce, his fiancée said.
The Saudi journalist left his two cellphones with his fiancée before walking into the consulate and couldn’t be reached.
Turkish authorities grew fully certain that Mr. Khashoggi remained inside the consulate premises after poring over footage from surveillance cameras at the front and back of the building, according to a person familiar with the matter. Authorities have heightened controls at border checkpoints, the person said.
A first meeting at the consulate on Friday had gone well, Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancée recalled. But because he was rushed for time, he had agreed to return after the weekend, she said.
“He felt reassured because one consular clerk had told Jamal that he was following him on Twitter and admired his work,” she said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/missin...om-on-collision-course-with-turkey-1538586856
