A meeting between a suspect and a Saudi resident in Turkey’s Yalova province is believed to be related to the disappearance of the body of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Istanbul’s top prosecutor said on Monday.
“It was found that one of the suspects who was involved in the killing of Khashoggi met a Saudi Arabian citizen residing in Yalova one day before the incident. It is believed that during this meeting, the annihilation/hiding of Khashoggi’s body was discussed,” the prosecutor said.
Turkish police carried out inspections at a villa in Yalova in relation to the investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The police and the gendarmerie took security measures around the two story villa in Samanli village of Termal district, according to police sources.
The drone-backed search has been assisted by sniffer dogs, as well.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
After initially saying he had left the consulate alive, weeks later the Saudi administration admitted he was killed there, blaming a rogue group of Saudi operatives.
The killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of the crown prince, has strained Saudi Arabia's ties with the West and battered Prince Mohammed's image abroad.
