© AP Photo / Emrah Gurel
According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Riyadh has given official permission to search its Consulate General in Istanbul in order to investigate the disappearance of Khashoggi.
Addressing the case, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Saudi Arabia to provide evidence that the journalist had exited the diplomatic facility, adding that he was personally overseeing the investigation.
"Although in accordance with the Vienna Convention consular premises enjoy immunity, upon receiving the consent of the head of the diplomatic mission the authorities of a country, where this diplomatic mission is located, can carry out investigation there," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy's statement, obtained by Sputnik, read.
According to the official, Riyadh stated it was open for cooperation, and an investigation can be carried out in the building of the consulate general,
Over the weekend, Ankara claimed that Khashoggi, who was working as an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, might have been killed inside the consulate building. Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations, stressing that the journalist has neither been killed nor abducted by Saudi authorities.
Khashoggi, who left Saudi Arabia last year out of fear of arrest, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up documents necessary for his upcoming marriage. According to the missing journalist's fiancée, 11 hours after entering the building, Saudi guards told her that he had already left.
Comment: Previously:
- Saudi Arabia's dark history of abductions
- 'Preplanned murder'?: Turkey claims 15-member Saudi hit squad brutally killed WaPo journalist in consulate
- Saudi journalist banned from writing after criticizing Trump: Author does not represent the government of Saudi Arabia
- Jamal Khashoggi search continues: Turkish investigators reportedly want access to guarded consulate where Saudi journalist feared killed
- Turkey summons Saudi Arabia envoy over disappearance of dissident journalist
Update October 10: Turkish media has released a surveillance video of 15 Saudis landing at Ataturk Airport, claiming the men were members of an elite Saudi "assassination squad," sent to kill Khashoggi. A Turkish official has said that one member of the team was an "autopsy expert." The video did not offer definitive proof about Khashoggi's fate, yet Turkish officials have said that they fear the team killed him.