Turkey is preparing in order to search the Saudi consul’s residence in Istanbul on Wednesday, as part of the investigations over disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
While Turkish investigators were planning to search house of the Saudi counsel, he left Turkey, leading Saudi Arabia to relieve him from his post and refer him to investigation.
The minister’s remarks came after his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which he described as “beneficial and fruitful”.
Pompeo arrived for a brief visit to Turkey, after meeting with the Saudi king, crown prince and foreign minister in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Following Pompeo’s meetings, US President Donald Trump warned against rushing to blame Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump previously said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman had denied knowing what happened to Khashoggi.
This came as media outlets reported that the men who are suspected of killing the journalist has close links with the Saudi ruler.
The New York Times reported that four of 15 people named by the Turkish authorities as suspects in the case, have links to the crown prince, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.
According to the newspaper, one of the men has been photographed accompanying the crown prince on recent foreign visits.
The kingdom has come under intense international pressure since the disappearance of the journalist after he visited the consulate on October 2 to obtain papers that would have allowed him to marry his Turkish fiancée.
After inspection of Istanbul’s Saudi consulate, Turkish officials said that they found more evidence that Khashoggi was murdered.
