Canada Has Listened to Turkish Recordings of Khashoggi Killing: Trudeau
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the Canadian intelligence officers have already heard the Turkish recordings of what happened to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He added that he has been discussing what measures should be taken regarding this case along with allies.
Khashoggi, who was a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team which was reportedly sent from Riyadh. After weeks of denial, Saudi authorities admitted the killing was pre-planned.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan revealed that the audio recordings of the killing has been given to the US, French, German, and British governments.
When asked if Canadian intelligence has heard the Turkish recordings, President Trudeau replied with, “Yes”, although he revealed that he had not heard them personally.
“Canada’s intelligence agencies have been working very closely on this issue with Turkish intelligence and Canada has been fully briefed on what Turkey had to share,” Trudeau said.
Canada is part of the five eyes intelligence network, which shares the information with the United States, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.
When asked if the recordings will change Ottawa’s relationship with Riyadh, Trudeau said that he will continuing to talk with allies about the accountability and investigation for the culprits behind the murder.
“We are in discussions with our like-minded allies as to the next steps with regard to Saudi Arabia,” Trudeau stated.
“The truth isn’t out yet. We want to know the truth, the circumstances of his death and the identity of the culprits. Then we will take the necessary actions. If the Turkish president has information to give us, he must give it to us. For now, I don’t know about it,” he added.
