In October 2018, the Saudi Arabian journalist and exile Jamal Khashoggi entered the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. There he was murdered and his body was cut to pieces with a bone saw in a gruesome act which a subsequent UN inquiry concluded was “planned and perpetrated” by Saudi officials.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the killing was ordered at the highest levels of Saudi leadership. US intelligence services believed Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman had authorised the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi (he denies that).
The killing galvanised world opinion against the autocracy in Riyadh, leaving it isolated. Less than four years later, even though nobody has been held accountable for the murder, it is as if the Saudi regime has been forgiven. Yesterday, bin Salman was received by Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, the final step in a “normalisation” process that has included lifting restrictions on trade, flights and the screening of TV series as well as the ending of mutual negative coverage in state-controlled media. In April Ankara halted its trial process in relation to Khashoggi’s killing, transferring the case to Riyadh and thus ensuring it will go nowhere.
Saudi Arabia’s rehabilitation is driven primarily by the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, which have given Riyadh new leverage. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the only oil producers with the ability to significantly ramp up crude production, which the Biden administration sees as an imperative as it tries to control prices at the pump, stabilise energy markets and isolate Vladimir Putin. Washington is also wary of Riyadh’s growing links with China.
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Similar transactional logic drives Erdogan, who badly needs Saudi funds and foreign currency at a time when Turkey’s economy is under strain from a falling lira and soaring inflation. Stabilising the economy is Erdogan’s priority in advance of elections due in June 2023. From Washington and from Ankara, the message is clear: economic interests trump human rights, even if it means getting away with murder.