Germany urges S. Arabia to cooperate with Turkey

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

Germany urged Saudi Arabia on Friday to fully cooperate with Turkey to enlighten the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Adebahr said many questions regarding the murder of Khashoggi still remained unclear.

“We hope that the Saudi authorities would closely cooperate with the Turkish authorities,” she stressed, adding that Germany and its EU partners would continue to demand that all responsible for the murder are held accountable.

Asked whether Germany supported growing calls for a UN inquiry into the killing of Khashoggi, Adebahr said they would like to first wait for the result of Turkish investigation.

“The Turkish public prosecutor’s office has not yet concluded its investigation and released a final report. First, we have to wait for this outcome,” she added.

Khashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post, was killed on Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted that Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate but claimed that the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of a plot to murder him.

On Monday, Germany imposed a travel ban on 18 Saudi citizens suspected of involvement in the killing of Khashoggi.

The German government has also halted all arms exports to Saudi Arabia in a move to increase pressure on Riyadh to conduct a full investigation into the murder.

So far, 21 people, including security officers, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with the murder.