Brilliant. This is only an excerpt; read on here The Khashoggi Affair: the art of the leak
October 23 by SETH J. FRANTZMAN, Terrainincognita
Nick Paton Walsh articulated it well: “The role [Turkey has] taken is not that of the virtuous prosecutor, but of the exploitative politician,” he wrote on October 18 about Ankara’s handling of, what at the time was considered the disappearance of Saudi journalist and insider Jamal Khashoggi. Why do we still know so little, he asked at the time, before Saudi Arabia had admitted to the murder. “The slow, purposeful, yet absolutely deliberate series of leaks to the media of evidence pointing towards the involvement of the Saudi Crown Prince and his immediate entourage has been disrespectful to the cause of justice itself, let alone to Khashoggi’s grieving relatives.” The BBC’s Mark Lowen identified the trend even earlier on October 10. “drip-feeding leaks on Khashoggi to pro-govt media: pics of 15 alleged members of Saudi hit squad, CCTV showing them arriving in Istanbul, checking into hotels near Saudi consulate, vehicles going from consulate to CG residence, jets leaving. Doesn’t look good for Saudis.” Deborah Amos at NPR also noted it on October 12.
Many have now come to understand that there is a strategy to the method by which leaks have been made in Turkey. Western media and commentators have gone from hanging on every outrage over the murder to wondering whether the various stories of “tapes” and other details will actually materialize. Yet they continue to stay tuned for every juicy detail. On October 23 when SkyNews suddenly claimed a body had been found many people who should know better began tweeting.
On October 18 the Associated Press noted that at each turn of the investigation “Turkish officials leaked more shocking material to the media, making it impossible for the journalist’s alleged murder to be quietly swept under the rug.” It is an “art” some have said, to be able to provide leaks everyday like this.
When the Turkish president was going to speak on October 23 many thought that major new details would be revealed. Martin Chulov tweeted “A huge moment in the region looms, as Turkey’s President prepares to disclose what he knows..Khashoggi case has put Saudi prince right where Erdoğan wants him.” After the speech many were left wondering why Ankara’s public statements were much more sanitized then the private leaks.
At every turn salacious details, often unverified, became fact. Many of these began in the Turkish media or were ascribed to Turkish sources, sometimes official or unofficial, sometimes to various members of the police or government. It was difficult to verify what was officially known, versus rumors. BBC tried to create one timeline.
New leaks every day
After Khashoggi disappeared on October 2 press reports began to emerge the next day. However it took several days for the leaks to begin. We may not know why it took several days, since according to the later accounts the existence of an “audio” tape would have immediately provided authorities knowledge of what happened. Later it would emerge that officials did try to rush to the airport on October 2.
October 6: Daily Sabah “Turkish police: 15 Saudis, including officials, arrived in Istanbul on two flights on Tuesday (same day Khashoggi disappeared) and were at the consulate at the same time as the journalist. They left again the same day ” “The Turkish news is reporting that Saudi’s sent a 15 men team to carry out a ‘premeditated murder’”
October 7 : “The body has been deported to S.A. already. The customs did not control the 15 Saudis when they returned back home. Surely their suitcases where filled with his bodyparts.”
October 9: “Yeni Şafak journalist Kemal Öztürk participated a program on TVNET saying, “the source of claims about Jamal Khasoggi’s death is the intelligence units; there is a video of him getting killed.” Middle East Eye “On Tuesday, Turkish Daily Sabah, a pro-government newspaper, published the alleged names and photos of 15 Saudi nationals it said travelled to Istanbul the day Khashoggi disappeared.” October 9 “allegedly of #4 on Saudi security team that arrived in Istanbul the day Khashoggi disappeared with Saudi Crown Prince MBS [Mohammed Bin Salman]; October 9 “Last known photo of Khashoggi emerges.” October 9 “Washington Post releases photos of Khashoggi entering consulate.”
October 10 NYT: “Saudi journalist Khashoggi was killed within two hours of his arrival at the consulate by a team of Saudi agents, who dismembered his body with a bone saw they brought for the purpose; the order came from Saudi royal court” – a senior Turkish official to NYT.” Liz Sly: “The Saudi hit team abducted & dismembered Khashoggi with a bone saw before they left. They took a video as evidence that they did the job. One member of the team was an autopsy expert.” Ben Hubbard “A top Turkish security official said Khashoggi’s killing was “a quick and complex operation” that was done in two hours and involved a bone saw brought for the purpose. But sources still anonymous. Will Erdogan own this publicly?” Business Insider “A senior Turkish official on Tuesday said the team responsible for Jamal Khashoggi’s death used a bone saw to dismember his body.” Guardian: “CCTV disappears from consulate, Turkish investigators believe the CCTV footage from inside the consulate was onboard.”
October 12: ““You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic,” a source told the Washington Post. “You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered.” Slate: “How much could Apple Watch tell us about disappearance.” October 12: “Khashoggi disappearance: new video aired by Turkish TV NTV purports to show a man wearing a white coat arriving in a black Mercedes at the Saudi consul’s house”
October 13: George Takei “If you ever wonder how courageous the press is, missing Post journalist Khashoggi apparently may have recorded his own abduction, torture and possible murder on his Apple watch.” Kenneth Roth: “Turkey says Jamal Khashoggi’s Apple Watch recorded his execution inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Saudis reportedly tried to delete the recordingby guessing Khashoggi’s PIN and using (the dead man’s?) fingerprint. It did.” CNN: “Missing Saudi journalist’s Apple watch may have transmitted audio evidence, Turkish paper reports” CNN, same day “Experts have dismissed claims that a recording of the alleged killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been transmitted using his Apple Watch.”
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