Saudi Consul Muhammad al-Otaibi left Istanbul for Riyadh before investigators arrived to search his house and collect evidence from inside of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"The consul has already left for Riyadh, and the Turkish investigation team has begun to enter the Consul's house for inspection and access to it,
A source at the prosecutor's office confirmed evidence in the consul's home about Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared at his consulate on October 2.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the possibility of using toxic substances in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where journalist Jamal Khashoggi is likely to have been killed within two weeks.
Hours after Turkish investigators left the Saudi consulate, Erdogan told reporters at a meeting of the Justice and Development Party in Ankara that he hoped to arrive at a convincing opinion in the case soon, because the investigation looked at several things, including toxic substances and other materials removed after Talana.
He added that the inspection of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul will continue and the aim is to reach a result that reveals what happened in the case of Jamal Khashoggi.
The Turkish president did not clarify whether the toxic substances he referred to were used in the killing of Khashoggi or in the disposal of his body that had been cut, according to Turkish security sources.
Earlier, Turkish media reported that Turkey had briefed the United States, including the United States, on audio and video recordings proving the torture and murder of the Saudi journalist after entering his consulate in Istanbul on the second of this month.
The correspondent of the island quoted informed sources that the sound recordings in the possession of the Turkish investigators reveal details of the killing of Khashoggi after beating and injected with needles do not know if they contain a drug or a toxic substance.
Searching operations
Meanwhile, official Turkish sources said that the Saudi consul, Mohammed al-Otaibi, had left for Riyadh before the arrival of investigators who were planning to take his case and search his house.
| Home of Saudi Consul General Mohammad Al-Otaibi to be covered by Turkish inspections (Getty Images) |
The correspondent of the island Omar Khashram said that the Turkish side of the Turkish-Saudi joint team will be the Deputy Chief of the Republican Prosecutor, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Division and experts of this organ, and two Deputy Director of Public Security in Istanbul and officers specializing in criminal cases, and Deputy Director of the Anti-Terrorism Division in Istanbul.
He added that the presence of important figures in the inspection team, as happened yesterday, shows the interest and accuracy of the Turkish side during the inspections, whose initial results were to find evidence in the consulate supporting the hypothesis of Khashoggi's death inside.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the residence of the consul is no less important than the consulate because it is one of the centers of movement during hiding or killing Khashoggi, where the Saudi security team and cars frequented the house, which is only about 300 meters from the consulate, and may be the body of Khashoggi.
Following the completion of the inspection, there will be official reports from the Turkish and Saudi inspection teams to the higher political authorities of the two countries, which in turn will decide the next steps if Khashoggi's murder is proven. The Turkish investigation team left the consulate at dawn today after about nine hours of inspection.
A source at the Turkish prosecutor's office said the initial examination inside the Saudi consulate showed evidence of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite attempts to obliterate it, and corroborates evidence that Khashoggi was suspected of murder inside the consulate.
He added that the Turkish team searched all consular rooms and obtained important evidence. Al-Jazeera correspondent said the Turkish investigators took samples from the walls of some consular rooms and from the interior garden.