A Saudi journalist and dissident named Jamal Khashoggi was killed on October 2, 2018 inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul. The shocking event dominated global headlines and raised the possibility of Saudi Arabia facing international isolation. Five years later, attention faded as economic influence from the Arab monarchy continued to shape global markets.
Washington Post columnist Khashoggi had entered the Istanbul consulate to secure documents needed to marry his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building.
Turkish intelligence recorded conversations inside the residence, revealing that the 59-year-old critic was drugged, subjected to torture, and dismembered with a chain saw while speakers played music to mask the sounds of the crime.
Bin Salman’s role
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, faced the most serious accusations. The United States Central Intelligence Agency and others assessed that he had sanctioned the murder, leveraging tight control over Saudi security forces.
Saudi media later circulated images of the crown prince as part of official narratives denying personal involvement. He stated in a late September interview with a major American broadcaster that the incident was a grave mistake and that reforms were underway to ensure safety and compliance with rules.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, chairman of a country facing economic challenges, refrained from a complete rupture with Saudi Arabia. He said the order to kill Khashoggi originated at the highest levels of the Saudi government.
One presidential adviser publicly charged that Mohammed bin Salman bore blood on his hands, reflecting a harsh line from Ankara. Erdogan pledged that the crime would not be swept under the rug. In March 2020, Turkey’s prosecutors filed a lawsuit against twenty Saudi citizens, later adding six more defendants.
Yet in March 2022, the Public Ministry stepped away from the case, and Turkey shifted toward closer ties with Saudi Arabia. The Khashoggi case faded from domestic discourse after high-level visits between Ankara and Riyadh.
Khashoggi’s two deaths
Final verdicts in Riyadh were issued in September 2020, with five individuals sentenced to death. At the request of the victim’s family, those sentences were commuted.
The UN High Commissioner for Extrajudicial Killings, Agnes Callamard, described the proceedings as a farce and a lack of transparency, arguing the process did not meet fair standards.
The conduct of the case drew scrutiny in many capitals, with some arguing for halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia. During the 2020 election cycle, U.S. President Joe Biden signaled that the kingdom could be treated as a pariah state.
Within a short time, some restrictions were eased. Germany allowed the sale of ammunition worth tens of millions, and the United States authorized significant Patriot missile transactions.
In 2022, Mohammed bin Salman was appointed prime minister, a move seen by some as providing diplomatic insulation from potential prosecutions abroad.
Hatice Cengiz later questioned whether justice would be achieved in the international arena, hinting that money sometimes factors into political decisions more than accountability. Yet global opinion urged caution and restraint in pursuing further action.
A world power
Saudi Arabia is widely regarded as a major global actor. It has played a mediating role in the Ukraine crisis, a conflict that intensified after the kingdom’s early involvement in 2015, and it remains deeply involved in Middle Eastern disputes, including Yemen.
The energy landscape highlights Saudi influence as OPEC’s leading producer. At the same time, the country has invested heavily in entertainment and entered contracts with leading global athletes, a move critics sometimes label as sportswashing. The leadership has suggested continued investment in these areas as a path to economic growth and diversification for the broader economy, even as debates about long‑term implications persist. [Source notes: assessments by global observers and policy analysts]