Will recordings solve the Khashoggi case?

The American CNN channel broadcasted important news.

It was a report that framed that the U.S. intelligence has voice recordings of the Saudi Arabian authorities who planned to capture Jamal Khashoggi.

With respect to this matter, which has also recently become a hot topic in the U.S., U.S. Vice President Mike Pence stated yesterday that Washington would send FBI technicians to the Saudi consulate in Turkey if Saudi Arabia requested it.

Although the statement “if Saudi Arabia requested it” creates clouds of suspicion about what their intentions are, the FBI's involvement will be an important development in any event.

In fact, the amount of evidence needed here is similar as to how much more evidence is needed to prove that the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) conducted the July 15 coup attempt.

In one week, all the pieces are collected and thus complete the picture.

The purge of members of the Saudi royal family and the fate of Jamal Khashoggi

Let us proceed from the following point:

The young Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia has been carrying out a bloody purge within the royal family for a while now.

Under the normal circumstances, King Salman’s nephew Mohammad Bin Nayef (MBN) is supposed to ascend to the throne.

However Nayef was dismissed with a sudden change during a quasi-coup, and replaced by Mohammad Bin Salman.

The new crown prince launched a ruthless campaign within the royal family shortly after his appointment.

Detentions, arrests, executions came one after the other.

Here is why we are talking about the former Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef:

Jamal Khashoggi was in the close circle of Nayef, who is currently being held under house arrest with electronic handcuffs.

A friend of Jamal Khashoggi who is well-acquainted with him, with whom I have had a talk, says that Khashoggi was preparing to launch a newspaper recently.

Probably, it should not be that hard to guess the broadcasting policy such a newspaper would follow, and which hornet’s nests it would stir up.

There was an abundance of reports in the newspapers that the team which come to Turkey on private jets last week to allegedly kill Jamal Khashoggi was the special squad of Crown Prince Salman. When I was watching American CNN yesterday, Nick Robertson, who came to Istanbul to investigate the case, was asked questions about the oddity of having a forensic expert in the team.

The point arrived at, namely the state of affairs is that there is no other option left than to interpret Jamal Khashoggi’s fate as a continuation of the ruthless detainment campaign carried out within the royal family.

Maybe, to some extent, this is why it would be more appropriate to approach the issue specific to Saudi Prince Salman and not whole Saudi Arabia.

How does the US approach this matter?

At the beginning of my column, I cited the statement by the U.S. Vice President Pence that they could send an FBI team to Istanbul if Saudi Arabia requested it.

It is useful to keep a close eye on how the U.S. administration will approach this issue.

Since Jamal Khashoggi published his articles in the American media, we witness that the execution of a journalist naturally caught the attention of the U.S. press.

Yet another aspect to follow closely is into which direction the U.S. administration, or the Israeli lobby, which has an influence over the U.S. administration, will steer the Jamal Khashoggi case or, to be more precise, with what intention they will act.

There is a simple reason behind such questioning:

The project of Mohammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia is a project also supported by the United States.

After all, one can ask why the U.S. should say anything on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi considering the stance Washington had previously put forth regarding these dismissals which had somewhat bloody consequences.

In a sense, withdrawal of the support for MBS would mean an absolute collapse of the bricks laid so far.

That is why U.S. Vice President Pence's proposal to send FBI technicians is a suspicious situation all by itself.

Those pulling Turkey into the ring

There is another important question:

How will the criminal investigation conducted by Turkish authorities for Jamal Khashoggi proceed? How will the evidence gathered affect relations with Saudi Arabia?

It is known that there are also some members in Saudi’s royal family who strive to keep relations with Turkey on sound ground although there are also others who seek to deteriorate relations with Turkey.

Every now and then, the circles of Mohammed Bin Salman are known to be involved in disturbing discourse on Turkey either directly or through affiliated press.

Ankara adopts an imperturbable and patient attitude, partly taking into account the fact that there are different approaches within the royal family, partly due to the fact that this country hosts the holy land of Muslims.

Nevertheless, one or more hands insist on pushing the Turkey into the ring.