Saudi officials have denied permission to Turkish police to search a well in the garden of their consulate in Istanbul as part of an ongoing investigation into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday, citing security sources.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said police examined the consulate building but Saudi officials refused permission to search the consulate garden and well.
A joint Turkish-Saudi team searched the residence of the consul general as well as the Saudi Consulate General in İstanbul last week as part of an investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
After weeks of denying involvement in his disappearance, Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced that Khashoggi died in a fight inside the consulate.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday laid out his country’s initial findings in its investigation, saying Khashoggi’s murder was “premeditated.”
World leaders have called on Riyadh to provide more concrete answers on his death amid a global outcry.
On the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the individual identified have since left Turkey.
