Turkish officials were finally able to inspect the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday for the first time since the disappearance and likely death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Police found no conclusive evidence, but officials say they did not leave empty-handed.
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, certain “toxic materials” were recovered from the consulate which are being looked into, along with some other evidence. He added that there was evidence the Saudis had recently repainted parts of the consulate, destroying some evidence.
Officials said that even with the repainting, there were parts of the evidence that “can’t be fully erased,” and that Turkish investigators are continuing to look into that. For the time being, there is no sign that the residence at the site is to be searched.
Since Khashoggi’s fate has been a major issue since his disappearance on October 2, it would be incredibly suspicious for the Saudis to have chosen to repaint within the first couple of weeks, especially since the Saudis have been seeking access to the consulate for awhile and that discovery would clearly be noticed.
OK, now the Turks – who I don’t trust for an instant since they have motivations to make some of this stuff up – are just flailing now for “evidence”. It should be obvious that the only reason they mention “toxic materials” is to try and play what we might call the “Skripal card”.
I never believed the “we have audio recordings of the murder” nonsense, as if the Saudis can’t control the inside of their consulate like very government does (for the most part – spies have penetrated them in the past.) That was very suspiciously like made up BS, especially since nothing has been released.
For all we know, the Turks murdered this guy just so Erdogan could stir up some trouble with the Saudis for who knows what reason. Or they ginned up this stuff on orders from the CIA, despite being on the outs with the US on several issues. The fact that they suddenly released the US priest indicates a possible attempt at rapprochement with the US and this “plot” could well be part of that.
All this is speculation and that’s the problem with the whole incident – it has all the marks of some sort of intelligence operation and not necessarily on the part of the Saudis. I don’t suggest the Saudis are not at fault at some level, but we’ll never know what really happened, nor what the Saudis did as opposed to what the US and the Turks did to take advantage of it.
Trump is protecting the Saudis and their $100 billion arms sales, that much we know for sure. But beyond that, we know nothing except what people with motivations to lie have said – both intelligence people and the media.