Turkey - Page 38

Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi became a figure of global importance when he disappeared on October 2 after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, leading to allegations that agents from Saudi Arabia lured him to the consulate so they could murder him.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin ended speculation Thursday morning when he announced he will, indeed, skip the Future Investment Initiative summit in Saudi Arabia.

The Washington Post on Tuesday published the final column submitted by Jamal Khashoggi’s assistant before Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. He has not been seen or heard from since.

The near-total silence from on-the-record investigators, government officials, and reliable sources on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi led much of the mainstream media to rely on the government-allied Turkish media and anonymous Turkish sources for this week’s news.

The story of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has been driven by lurid and dubiously-sourced claims from Turkish newspapers, particularly those supportive of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Few are more supportive than Yeni Safak, and none have produced a more sensational headline than Wednesday’s “Recordings Reveal Khashoggi Tortured, Then Dismembered While Still Alive.”

The highest-ranking military officer in the United States military met his Turkish counterpart in Washington, DC, this week to discuss security in Syria’s Manbij area as well as joint efforts to annihilate the resilient Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) presence in the region, the Pentagon announced.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Authorities say about 200 migrants have crossed into Greece from the northeastern land border with Turkey, an unusually large number of arrivals in that area in a single morning.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday morning for urgent meetings with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir to discuss the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. Turkish officials said they expect Pompeo to visit Ankara next, bringing important information about the case from the Saudis.

Jihadis in Syria’s Idlib, a stronghold of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists considered one of the international terrorist group’s most potent wings, reportedly failed to meet Monday’s deadline to pull out of a planned demilitarized zone in the country’s last rebel bastion as part of a Russian-Turkish agreement.

Saudi Arabia reportedly vowed to use its economic influence to retaliate against any punitive actions “with an even stronger measure” in a statement Sunday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of “severe punishment” over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

The much-discussed and often-delayed joint inspection of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by Turkish and Saudi officials formally began on Monday.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has announced on Monday that authorities had detained a man who posted a video on social media insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic.

Contents: Saudi Arabia tries to recover from Khashoggi disappearance disaster; Negotiations follow the pattern of N. Korea’s 2010 torpedoing of S. Korean warship

(AFP) — Britain, France and Germany insisted Sunday that “light must be shed” on the whereabouts of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as they called for a credible investigation into his disappearance.

Evangelical leaders continue to be thrilled with President Donald Trump’s performance after he secured the release of pastor Andrew Brunson this weekend.

ISTANBUL — Turkish officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper reported Saturday.

President Donald Trump sat next to newly released American Pastor Andrew Brunson in the Oval Office Saturday and said that under his administration “they’re tending not to take” Americans, but he refrained from detailing why.

Newly-freed Pastor Andrew Brunson joins President Donald Trump at the White House on Saturday after two years of detention in Turkey.

President Donald Trump said there was “no deal there at all” behind the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkish prison following his two-year detention.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed threats on Friday to expand his country’s military operations into northern Syrian territory controlled by the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters.

The Washington Post published a story Thursday claiming Turkish officials told the U.S. they have audio and video recordings from inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul proving Saudi agents murdered missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Turks have apparently have not shared the evidence with anyone yet.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert assured reporters during a regular press briefing Thursday that the Trump administration is engaged in the case of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi “at the highest levels,” refusing to comment on what Washington suspects may have happened to him.

A Turkish court ruled to free Pastor Andrew Brunson on Friday after two years of detention on Friday. He is reportedly on his way home to North Carolina.

“PASTOR BRUNSON JUST RELEASED,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “WILL BE HOME SOON!”

A Turkish court on Friday ruled in favor of releasing American Pastor Andrew Brunson nearly two years after Turkish authorities arrested him on charges of terrorism.

The Trump administration is “now driving to make sure” America’s “great partners” in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), the Syrian Kurds, participate in discussions to determine the future of Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week.

The agreement between Turkey and the United States to push U.S.-allied Kurdish militiamen out of Syria’s Manbij region is delayed, “but not completely dead,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday.

A bipartisan group of senators wrote to the White House on Wednesday invoking the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to demand an investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and possible sanctions against Saudi Arabia.

ISTANBUL — Surveillance footage aired by Turkish media on Wednesday purports to show a team of Saudis arriving in Istanbul the day Jamal Khashoggi went missing, a black van leaving the Saudi Consulate after he entered, and the team checking out and departing the country later that night.

President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that he spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia after a journalist mysteriously disappeared last week.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, visiting Washington this week, said in remarks Tuesday with American counterpart Jim Mattis that Greece hopes to convince the United States to expand its military presence in the country.

A Turkish newspaper aligned with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday claimed it has identified the 15 members of the team allegedly sent from Saudi Arabia to kidnap or kill missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared last week after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Officials from the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union expressed concern over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Monday and asked the government of Saudi Arabia to conduct a thorough investigation.

ISTANBUL — Turkey said Tuesday it will search the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul as part of an investigation into the disappearance of a missing Saudi contributor to The Washington Post, a week after he vanished during a visit there.

Ankara – Turkey’s president has demanded Saudi officials prove their claim that missing journalist and Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, as the US called for a thorough probe into his disappearance.

American pastor Andrew Brunson marked his second year imprisoned in Turkey on Sunday. Ankara accuses him of terrorism in connection to the failed coup in 2016, an allegation that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration refutes.