Turkey Says Trump Wants to Avoid Khashoggi Issue

   

WASHINGTON — The Latest on the fallout from the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Turkey's foreign minister has criticized President Donald Trump, saying the U.S. leader appears to want to turn a blind eye to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

Mevlut Cavusoglu also described many European nations' response to Khashoggi's killing as "artificial" and "cosmetic." Cavusoglu was referring to bans imposed by some countries on the Saudi citizens detained in Saudi Arabia over the killing, from entering European nations.

Cavusoglu spoke to Turkey's CNN-Turk television on Friday.

Trump on Thursday disputed that U.S. intelligence officials had concluded that Saudi crown prince had ordered the killing of Khashoggi — a U.S.-based journalist who was critical of his rule.

Cavusoglu says "Trump's statements amount to him saying 'I'll turn a blind eye no matter what.'"

He added: "Money isn't everything. We must not move away from human values."

Turkey's top diplomat says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has requested to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the upcoming Group of 20 summits in Buenos Aires.

Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkey's CNN-Turk television on Friday that Turkey sees no "obstacle" for a meeting between the two but added that Erdogan would make the final decision on whether to meet the prince at the two-day G-20 summit that starts on Nov. 30.