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Foreign aFFairs

Turkey has also held its own enquiry
and one can easily understand that its
results would be uncomfortable for
Saudi Arabia. President Erdogan of
Turkey appears to be using the incident
not only to create a wedge between
the US and Saudi Arabia but also to
ensure that Riyadh’s plans for massive
diversification of its oil-based economy
go haywire. MBS has introduced a
number of social reforms and is in
the process of rejuvenating the Saudi
economy keeping in view the situation
likely to emerge in the future when its
petroleum resources will not be suf-
ficient to meet its growing needs.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia has re-
portedly withdrawn some of the pow-
ers given to MBS, but the King cannot
afford to go too far to take any harsh
step against the Crown Prince. MBS is
actually indispensable for his country
at the moment. Besides the economic Iranian camp followers. Turkey, which The Turks are apparently happy that
diversification drive he has launched, was earlier virtually playing no role in while President Donald Trump has
MBS has also got Saudi Arabia fully in- the West Asian politics, is fully involved been putting considerable pressure
volved in the war against the powerful in the developments in the region now on the Saudi rulers to bring to book
Huthi tribe in Yemen, where the estab- as it got affected considerably by the those found to have been involved in
lished system faces a serious threat to emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq Khashoggi’s murder, the US Congress
its survival. It is a matter of prestige for and Syria (ISIS) factor, though a thing of has called for imposing sanctions on
the Saudis that the Huthis, belonging to the past today. The atrocities commit- Riyadh. But will the US really do what
the Shia sect and getting massive sup- ted on the people in the ISIS-controlled it has been threatening? The US needs
port from Iran, are defeated. Besides areas led to a large-scale exodus into Saudi Arabia as a balancing factor
Yemen, Saudi Arabia is also involved in Turkey, Germany and other European against Iran and that means whatever
the civil war in Syria, where pro-Saudi countries. the Saudis’ do to satisfy the interna-
Sunni groups have been up in arms Turkey under President Erdogan tional community on the Khashoggi
against Syrian President Bashar Al- has posed a serious challenge to Saudi issue is likely to be acceptable to the US
Assad, a pro-Iranian ruler. Arabia as the leader of the territories administration.
All that is going on in the Middle- under the sway of Islam. Its economy is This inference can be drawn when
East has sharply divided it into two in the process of recovering fast after looks closely at President Trump’s
camps, one led by Saudi Arabia and the the end of the US-Turkish tensions fol- statement that the arrest of the18 sus-
other by Iran. The Saudi camp has the lowing the release of American pastor pects by the Saudi authorities is “a good
UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Andrew Brunson from captivity in first step” towards punishing the guilty.
Yemen, Oman and Lebanon, and the Turkey. He has described as “credible” the steps
Iran-led camp includes Iraq, Syria and Turkey, perhaps, thinks that now it taken by Riyadh like the institution of
Qatar. Interestingly, Turkey, a non-Ar- is the turn of the Saudis to suffer at the the enquiry into Khashoggi’s murder.
ab Sunni Muslim-majority nation, and hands of the US and other Western This means the Saudi probe may lead
Qatar, a Sunni monarchy, are associ- nations for what its nationals did in to some small fry being sacrificed at
ated with the Iranian camp. Qatar, the Istanbul as Khashoggi was living in the end of it all. If this really happens,
world’s richest nation, joined this camp the US under self-imposed exile. The that will send across the sad message
only recently because of the Qatari rul- refusal by many Western executives that the US under President Trump
ers’ differences with the Saudis (MBS and government officials to attend a will not hesitate to sacrifice the cause
for all practical purposes). The Saudi high-level investment conference in of justice for safeguarding Washing-
group has the patronage of the US Saudi Arabia in the wake of Khshoggi’s ton’s national interests!
whereas Russia and China are doing all killing was considered by the Turks as
they can to protect the interests of the something quite expected. letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 november 2018 55 www.Tehelka.com

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