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Turkey’s Erdogan absent from Mecca Islamic summit: AFP
MECCA, Saudi Arabia, June 1, 2019 (AFP) – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan was notably absent from a key summit of the 57-member Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi holy city of Mecca early Saturday, an
AFP photographer said.
Turkey, a regional heavyweight, was instead represented by its Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Erdogan’s visit would have been his first to the kingdom since the brutal
murder last October of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul, which tarnished the international reputation of Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman.
The OIC meeting is the third and final summit hosted by Saudi Arabia this
week, aimed at galvanising support among Arab and Islamic nations against
arch-rival Iran, which has close ties with Turkey.
Khashoggi, a Saudi royal insider and Washington Post contributor was killed
and dismembered in what Saudi Arabia said was a “rogue” operation, but CIA
analysis leaked to the US media pointed the finger at Prince Mohammed.
Saudi prosecutors have absolved the prince and said around two dozen people
implicated in the murder are in custody, with death penalties sought against
five men.
But attention has remained focused on whether the crown prince ordered the
murder despite the kingdom’s denials.
Erdogan has said the order to murder Khashoggi came from “the highest
levels” of the Saudi government but has stopped short of directly blaming
Prince Mohammed.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0904 hrs