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The murder of Jamal Khashoggi caused horror around the world
Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFP
A Turkish court has decided to hand over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia.
The judges in Istanbul decided that the murder trial would be handed over to the Gulf monarchy.
The proceedings in Turkey are thus suspended for the time being.
The plaintiff announced an appeal.
The case of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018, caused horror around the world.
The 59-year-old government critic Khashoggi was murdered on October 2, 2018 in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.
He had an appointment there to prepare for the wedding with his fiancée, a Turkish citizen.
According to official information from Turkey and the USA, a 15-man commando from Saudi Arabia was waiting in the representation, killed him, dismembered his body and disposed of the remains.
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Approach between Ankara and Riyadh
The murder had soured the already tense relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Most recently, however, the two countries had come closer again.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blamed Riyadh for the journalist's death at the time, but without directly blaming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who came under massive international pressure after the murder.
Earlier this year, however, Erdoğan announced his first visit to the kingdom since Khashoggi's murder - but the visit has not yet taken place.
In 2018, after weeks of denials, Riyadh finally admitted that Khashoggi had been killed “in a failed attempt to arrest him”.
Five death sentences were handed down in a trial in Saudi Arabia, but these were later commuted to prison terms.
The start of the proceedings in Turkey had raised hopes for actual clarification, among other things, among relatives.
svs/dpa