Turkey's response to the Khashoggi killing is sending a message to Saudi: You chose the wrong country for a murder

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed his country's investigation into journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing on Tuesday.
Although it failed to advance the narrative or address numerous rumors about the case, it sent an unequivocal message to Saudi Arabia: that it messed with the wrong country.
Erdoğan has led a strong crackdown on policemen, intelligence agents, and journalists in the name of national security.
Lisel Hintz, a Turkey expert at Johns Hopkins University, said that Erdoğan likely perceives Khashoggi's killing as a personal affront to him.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's speech on Tuesday failed to advance the narrative of what really happened to slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite high expectations.

But it did send one unequivocal message to Saudi Arabia: You chose the wrong country for a murder.

Addressing his Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdoğan issued a series of forceful statements accusing Saudi agents of preplanning Khashoggi's "savage" murder, demanding that the kingdom reveal the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body, and calling on Riyadh to hand over the suspects.

In doing so Erdoğan repeatedly emphasized the that the killing took place in his country — albeit on a diplomatic property — and said that it is up to his country to uncover the truth.

It squares with Erdoğan's strongman rhetoric, which has long emphasized the importance of national security.

Erdoğan flexes

The Turkish president said on Tuesday: "Despite [the crime] being in the consulate building, which is considered Saudi territory, let's not forget that this building is within the borders of the Republic of Turkey."

"As we know, this incident took place in Istanbul. We are the people in authority," he added.

He also lamented the delay for Turkish authorities to search the Saudi consulate.

boxes of cleaning supplies

Erdoğan said: "Because of diplomatic immunity, we couldn't go into the building initially. This has become a matter for discussion. What kind of steps can a host country take in a similar situation in the future?"

Saudis "personal affront" to Erdoğan

Erdoğan has for years cracked down on his own country's military, intelligence, and judicial officials, in the name of national security. This grew more intense after members of the Turkish armed forces tried and failed to launch a coup against him in July 2016.

For this reason Erdoğan likely saw the Khashoggi killing in Istanbul as a personal affront to his authority in Turkey.

Lisel Hintz, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced Studies, told Business Insider earlier this week: "What we're actually seeing is that Erdoğan took this as a personal affront that Saudi Arabia would carry out this action on his soil."

"Turkey doesn't want to take the blame for allowing this to take place on its territory."

And by repeatedly asserting Turkey's territorial authority in his speech, by challenging Riyadh's version of events at every turn, and by specifically pinning the blame on Saudi agents, Erdogan is sending a strong message to the kingdom: Don't commit a murder in my country.

The crackdown

Erdoğan declared a state of emergency for two years after the failed coup, under which 107,000 people were dismissed from their public sector jobs, according to the BBC. It only ended three months ago.

Numerous police officers, members of the military, journalists, and non-governmental organization workers were accused by the state of acting " target="_blank"against national security."

Through Erdoğan has led a strong campaign against the death of Khashoggi, who often criticized Saudi policies, the Turkish president actually made Turkey possibly the world's biggest jailer of journalists.

"A message, very carefully put, to the Saudi king"

Another significant omission from Erdoğan's speech was the name of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely suspected of orchestrating Khashoggi's killing.

Instead the Turkish president referred to King Salman, the Saudi crown prince's father, who was mentioned at least six times in his Tuesday speech.

Erdoğan said that he had spoken to King Salman on the phone about potentially sharing intelligence on Khashoggi's death, suggesting that he was not yet ready to assign personal responsibility to the Saudi monarchy.

Dr HA Hellyer, a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Royal United Services Institute in London, told Business Insider that Erdoğan on Tuesday may have been making a veiled jab at Crown Prince Mohammed.

"Erdoğan's message today seems to have been less 'I will reveal all' and more a message, very carefully put, to the Saudi king," Hellyer said.

"He blatantly doesn't want to make an enemy of who will choose the next king of Saudi — but he does want to marginalize MbS," he added, referring to Crown Prince Mohammed by his initials. "The absence of the latter's name in the speech is very telling."

Experts previously said that Turkey may be trying to extract some kind of concession from Saudi Arabia through its intelligence leaks and bold public statement implicating Saudi Arabia in Khashoggi's death.

Turkey's response to the Khashoggi killing is sending a message to Saudi: You chose the wrong country for a murder

Erdoğan flexes

Saudis "personal affront" to Erdoğan

The crackdown

"A message, very carefully put, to the Saudi king"

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