German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that the European Union might make a collective decision to halt all arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. At the same time, she agreed with her French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the decision should be made after more is known about those responsible for his death.
"We agreed that when we have more clarity, and we are counting on that, when we know who was behind this then we will try to find a unified European solution or reaction from all member states of the European Union to show that we negotiate on the basis of common values," Merkel said.
Macron at first criticized Merkel's approach to punishing Riyadh over Khashoggi's death, calling it "pure demagoguery," as the murder was not directly connected to arms supplies from Europe. Both later agreed that any sanctions over Khashoggi's murder should first be coordinated at the "European level" prior to being announced.
Turkish President on Khashoggi Case
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier during the Istanbul Summit on Syria that Turkey has shared the results of the investigation into the murder of the Saudi journalist with other leaders in attendance.
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While Erdogan praised the results of the discussions between Turkish and Saudi prosecutors working on the Khashoggi case, he also called for Saudi Arabia to reveal the individuals that issued the order to send the 18 people responsible for murdering the journalist. Erdogan also said that Turkey expects Saudi Arabia to provide information on local accomplices that the perpetrators gave Khashoggi's body to.
The Turkish president added that Ankara had notified Riyadh that if it doesn't take the case to court, then Turkey will, as the crime was committed in Istanbul.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After initially denying involvement, Saudi Arabia later revealed that the journalist had been killed in a fight that erupted inside the consulate. Riyadh denied that it had ordered the murder and launched an investigation into the case, with 18 people already having been arrested in connection with the case.
At the same time, Turkey is conducting its own parallel investigation into the murder, while many Western countries have called on Saudi Arabia to provide greater transparency into its own, saying that many areas of the case remain unclear.