Reactions to the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi

The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and the Turkish Central Bank have signed an agreement for the SFD to make a 5$5 billion deposit in the bank.

Main opposition Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has vowed that if his party comes to power in the upcoming elections, they will reopen the case of Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi journalist who was killed on the premises of the Saudi Arabia's General Consulate in Istanbul, which was transferred to Saudi legal institutions.

Türkiye and Saudi Arabia on June 22 declared their determination to start a "new era of cooperation" during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as they set aside years of acrimony following the brutal slaying of a Saudi columnist.

Saudi Arabia on June 20 lifted a ban on citizens travelling to Türkiye and three other countries, state media reported, as the kingdom continues to relax coronavirus prevention measures.

President Joe Biden is leaning towards making a visit to Saudi Arabia, a trip that would likely bring him face-to-face with the Saudi crown prince he once shunned as a killer.

An event in October 2020 marking the two-year anniversary of the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU

Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 when he visited the consulate to arrange his marriage papers.

A court in Ankara has rejected an appeal by Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, against the Justice Ministry's approval for transferring the trial to Saudi Arabia.

A Turkish court's decision on the suspension and transfer of trial regarding the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is in line with laws, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said.

"[The court's ruling] does not mean that the case will be dismissed or the transfer of the jurisdiction," Bozdağ tweeted on April 15.

People hold pictures of Jamal Khashoggi at an event marking the second anniversary of his murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, on 2 October 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU.

The decision shocked human rights defenders who said this would end all hope of justice in the case.

A suspect in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was arrested on Dec. 7 in France, according to a French judicial official.

The official said the suspect was being held on the basis of a Turkish arrest warrant. He requested not being named in accordance with the French justice system's customary practices.