Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meet in Saudi Arabia, February 14, 2017. (Kayhan Ozer/Anadolu/Getty)
I joined Al Jazeera English’s Inside Story on Tuesday to discuss whether Turkey can bring down — if it wants to — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
The other panelists are former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rubin and Istanbul-based journalist Andrew Finkel.
The takeaways:
1. Mohammad bin Salman will remain, although he may be “contained” by the monarchy with some balancing of his power.
2. There’s too much at stake with Saudi Arabia — oil, arms deals, the US attempt at regime change in Iran — for the country to be sanctioned and MBS to face punishment.
3. But Turkey will use the episode for leverage in the Middle East and beyond, and Saudi Arabia could face pressure to end its blockade of Qatar and to agree a ceasefire in Yemen.
