What is Biden trying to do to Saudi Arabia?

I deliberately did not respond to any of the interview requests coming from many television channels and journalists about the report on the Khashoggi murder released by the CIA. I am announcing this here for the first time. By chance, because of my personal friendship with the late man in the Khashoggi case, I have of course not forgotten a responsibility, in the nature of a will, that he placed upon me in my absence.

From the very beginning of the incident I tried to act with the responsibility this will placed upon me. I could not prevent what happened to him, but I tried to fulfill the debt of justice that what happened to him imposed on all of us. For this, first, what happened to him had to be clarified, and those responsible had to be identified and brought before a court.

It was inevitable that the incident would be the subject of international attention, because Khashoggi was a world-famous figure who, even if not a US citizen, was resident in the US and working there as a journalist. Moreover, the place where the incident occurred was, under international agreements and owing to certain activities, an area enjoying the privilege of diplomatic immunity. The abuse of the privileges granted by international agreements, a lawlessness that took place here, meant on the one hand a violation of an international rule, and it was inevitable that this would place a responsibility on the international community.

Of course the incident also had a dimension of a crime committed against Türkiye's sovereignty. Türkiye did not have the right to ignore such an incident taking place within its own borders, whoever was behind it. Therefore what it did after the incident, which it was thought another country might perhaps not have done, was something within the framework not only of Türkiye's sovereign right but also of its responsibility.

Türkiye did not shy away from doing its part in this matter. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, proceeding from the idea that a person who comes to Türkiye is under Türkiye's guarantee, insisted on justice whatever the cost. In this matter he more than earned everyone's appreciation.

However, because I saw very clearly the possibility of the CIA's report being used by the USA, the possibility of its being turned into a tool for steering Middle East politics, the propensity for reducing Khashoggi's moral personality and spirit to a dirty instrument, I thought it would be more correct to keep my distance from this process.

Indeed, it happened just as I had predicted. The report, which was again set aside with dirty calculations in the Trump period, being brought onto the agenda in this sensational manner in the Biden period does not show that the new US administration is on the side of justice. On the contrary, it is very clear that it wants to use the Khashoggi file as a trump card against Saudi Arabia. Our aim in the Khashoggi case from the beginning, on the other hand, was not to put Saudi Arabia in difficulty one way or another, but only justice. Our religion, our values, our history and the law between us are sufficient references for demanding this.

The Biden administration is not seeking justice or human values in the Khashoggi matter; on the contrary, it wants to use this file as a tool for its own Middle East policies. Essentially, because of such approaches, the USA is not a suitable authority on any ground in the world for the vindication of a right. The USA raises these matters only to the extent that they serve its own interests, and follows them up to that extent. It has never surprised us in this respect so far. The root of injustice in the Middle East is Israel and Zionist policies. What reason is there for us to expect that the Middle East policy of Biden, who has described himself as the greatest representative of Zionism, would now turn toward a direction of justice that would surprise us?

In fact, the Khashoggi case having turned into such a trump card in the hands of the USA against Saudi Arabia is, from whichever side you look at it, a saddening situation. That such murders and human rights violations have become routine in the Islamic world, and that the Islamic world has not formed a mechanism of justice of its own against such violations, is a cause of a different sorrow altogether.

Today Muslim blood is cheaper than water. Muslims are the ones who produce the fewest weapons in the world, yet are the most heavily armed, and by a wide margin Muslims are also those who die the most in the wars that arise in the world as a result of this armament. If not now, when is the time for Muslim countries to act among themselves with a new sensitivity on this?

As long as Muslims do not sufficiently grasp that the life, property, mind, religion and lineage of the Muslim are important, and do not themselves take sufficient initiative in ensuring the security and dignity of these assets, even their own basic rights will not escape falling into the hands of others as hostages.

For this reason, both the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League must now by all means put human rights violations in the Islamic world on their agendas, and carry out studies on what they can do so that Muslims can attain a free, strong and dignified status in the world.

Of course this work will also require the power and means to impose sanctions against violations. If only the Islamic world would put its mind to work in this direction, it more than possesses both these means and the power it needs.