All this self righteous outrage from Turkey about Saudi Arabia's treatment of a journalist is largely an obvious and flagrant attempt to take the spotlight off themselves;
The Republic of Turkey currently ranks as the world’s leading jailer of journalists, with 73 behind bars at the end of 2017. Since a failed coup in the summer of 2016, the government has pursued a massive and brutal crackdown against thousands of its critics and opponents, both real and probably imagined. This has included U.S. citizens: Pastor Andrew Brunson was finally released after two years in custody on laughable terrorism charges earlier this month. Former NASA scientist Serkan Golge remains in prison.
Turkey’s dragnet has extended beyond its borders from Kosovo to Mongolia, sometimes with little respect for local laws. The U.N. has accused the Turkish military of killing thousands and razing entire neighborhoods in the southeast of the country in recent years as part of a brutal counterinsurgency campaign against Kurdish militants.
So it’s a little strange to note that for the past few weeks, American outrage over the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi—which has led to rare public scrutiny of Saudi influence in Washington, U.S. support for the war in Yemen, and the seven-decade-old U.S.-Saudi relationship—has been driven in large part by that very same Turkish government.
Turkey and Khashoggi: Erdogan's government is masterfully driving the crisis.
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