© Hamad I Mohammed/ReutersSaudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman denies that Saudi Arabia abducted Jamal Khashoggi
The Saudi delegation has arrived in the Turkish capital to participate in the investigation into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, who allegedly went missing after visiting Riyadh's Istanbul consulate, Anadolu reported.
The delegation is expected to meet with the Turkish law enforcement services participating in the probe.
Several hours later, Saudi Arabia confirmed that it had formed a joint team with Turkey to "uncover the circumstances of the disappearance", as the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported, citing a Saudi spokesman.
The official noted that the kingdom "had complete confidence in the capacity of the team".
Khashoggi, who moved to the US in 2017 and worked as a columnist for The Washington Post, disappeared in Turkey on October 2 after allegedly entering the building of Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul. According to the missing journalist's fiancee, the consulate staff had invited Khashoggi that day to draw up the documents he needed for marriage, but she was not allowed into the building. After five hours of waiting, one of the consulate's staff told her that the journalist had already left.
Saudi officials, for their part, have insisted that Khashoggi disappeared after he left the Consulate building. The Saudi side has offered to aid in the investigation. Apart from that, the Kingdom has vowed to allow Turkey to conduct a search of its Consulate in Istanbul.
However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that the Saudis should prove their innocence and called Riyadh's explanations unconvincing. A few days later, despite the dispute over the issue, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin announced that Turkey had accepted a Saudi proposal to form a joint working group to investigate the case.
Comment: Also see: Does murder of journalist Khashoggi spell the end for Mohammad bin Salman?