Amid tensions over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman could be having a chat with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires next week.
If such a meeting takes place, it would be the first face-to-face encounter between Erdogan and the crown prince since the horrific murder at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month, which has badly damaged the reputation of the kingdom’s de facto ruler.
“There could be” a meeting, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said, according to state news agency Anadolu. “We’re looking at the program.”
Hoping to elicit support from Arab allies ahead of the summit, the prince on Thursday kicked off a regional tour starting with the United Arab Emirates, his first official trip abroad since Khashoggi’s murder.
The former court insider and Washington Post contributor was killed and dismembered in what Saudi Arabia said was a “rogue” operation, but analysis leaked by the US Central Intelligence Agency to the media implicated the crown prince.
Saudi Arabia has said that 21 people are in custody, with death penalties being sought against five men, but attention remains focused on whether the crown prince ordered the murder, which the kingdom vehemently denies.
– With reporting from Agence France-Presse