Turkey: Donald Trump turning a 'blind eye' to Jamal Khashoggi killing

Mevlut Cavusoglu

Turkey on Friday said US President Donald Trump intended to turn a "blind eye" to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder after he said it would not affect Washington's ties with Riyadh. "In one sense, Trump is saying 'I will turn a blind eye' no matter what happens," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with CNN Turk broadcaster.

"This is not the right approach. Money doesn't mean everything," Cavusoglu said, referring to Trump's continued support for Saudi Arabia, which has committed billions of dollars in US weapons contracts. Trump on Tuesday glossed over the Central Intelligence Agency's reported conclusion that the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had authorised the killing.

"Maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" Trump said, implying Prince Mohammed's culpability in Khashoggi's killing in the Saudi mission in Istanbul. Cavusoglu said "artificial measures" would not help solve the crisis. "They (Europe) say they don't want to upset ties with Saudi Arabia. We do not want to upset our relations either," he said, but added Ankara would do anything to shed light on the murder.

Finland halts arms sales to Saudi
Finland announced late on Thursday it will block new arms export licences to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, citing Khashoggi's murder and the countries' role in Yemen's humanitarian crisis. The suspension mirrors earlier decisions by Denmark, Norway and Germany to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia for the time being over the killing and over the kingdom's part in Yemen's war which has left 14 million people facing starvation, according to the UN.

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