A view of Saudi Arabia's consul general's official residence in Istanbul. Photos / AP
Turkey's President spoke directly to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman today as the Turkish probe into the killing of Jamal Khashoggi returned to the Saudi Consulate grounds in an apparent hunt for the journalist's remains.
Turkish officials did not immediately give details of the exchanges between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the crown prince with the two countries sharply at odds over Khashoggi's slaying earlier this month.
But it came as both sides sent contrasting signals.
Erdogan earlier kept the pressure high, saying no one linked to the killing will "avoid justice" in an apparent message to Saudi leaders.
Investigators, meanwhile, sought to search a well on the Saudi consulate grounds and studied surveillance images trying to piece together Saudi movements before Khashoggi's slaying.
Prince Mohammed, speaking at a business forum in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, called the killing a "heinous crime" and acknowledged the international outcry. But he also reached out to Turkey and other countries with hopes that it would not leave a "wedge" in relations.
Turkey claims that a Saudi hit team plotted the killing of the Washington Post columnist after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Saudi Arabia has acknowledged Khashoggi's death inside the consulate but says he was accidentally killed in a physical altercation with a team sent to negotiate his return to the kingdom. Khashoggi was living in exile in the United States and had planned to move to Istanbul and marry his Turkish fiancee.
Erdogan's call with the crown prince was the first conversation between the two leaders since Khashoggi's death. They discussed "joint efforts" to investigate the case, Turkey's state-run news agency reported, and the official Saudi Press Agency carried a similar statement.
Earlier, however, Erdogan had vowed to seek justice against those who ordered the killing.
"We are determined not to allow a cover-up of this murder and to make sure all those responsible - from those who ordered it to those who carried it out - will not be allowed to avoid justice," he said in a speech in Ankara, the Turkish capital, news agencies reported.
Turkey's state-run news agency also reported that Saudi officials had prevented Turkish police from searching a water well in the consulate garden in Istanbul's Levent district.
According to private broadcaster NTV, a fire brigade had been called to inspect for methane gas, which can be flammable, in the well before the police search. Saudi authorities did not allow the firefighters to enter, NTV reported, but the issue was later resolved. It was unclear whether the search went ahead.
Turkish crime-scene experts have previously gathered evidence inside the consulate and the residence of the consul general, but still seek greater access.
Also today, a surveillance-camera image made public in Turkey purported to show a Saudi consular vehicle at Istanbul's Belgrad Forest the night before Khashoggi was killed, evidence Turkish authorities have said points to his premeditated murder.
In his first public comments since the killing Khashoggi, Prine Salman said that his country is doing all it can to complete an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Addressing a gathering of more than 3000 business leaders from around the world at the Future Investment Initiative, Saudi Arabia's signature economic forum, often called "Davos in the Desert," Mohammed acknowledged no responsibility in the case. He called the killing "a heinous crime" that was "really painful to all Saudis" and to "every human being in the world."
But the backdrop for his comments - a high-profile investor forum in the Saudi capital, Riyadh - underscored the global backlash confronting the kingdom.
Many business leaders and political envoys from around the world stayed away from the conference amid the outrage over Khashoggi's slaying.
Some US lawmakers and others have called on Saudi Arabia's King Salman to reorder the line of succession to drop the Prince from his position as next in line for the throne.
But Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, a longtime supporter of Khashoggi, dismissed the idea of any shake-ups.
"People who think there's going to be any change in the succession are wrong," Turki told Post columnist David Ignatius. Instead, Turki said, Saudis are more supportive of MBS, as he's known, because he's under attack.
Turkish authorities, including Erdogan, said this week that Saudi agents had scouted Belgrad Forest prior to the killing inside the consulate.
Jamal Khashoggi murder was "painful" for all Saudis - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman makes first public comments on journalist's death, saying "justice will prevail" https://t.co/wHINHOcjAF pic.twitter.com/7Ye1rb3xXN
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 24, 2018
The image shown by Turkish media outlets - timestamped from a closed circuit television camera - showed a grey Mercedes with green diplomatic plates entering the forest gates at 6.28 pm on October 1.
A Turkish official previously confirmed that investigators had broadened their search for Khashoggi's body to wooded areas around the city.
Speaking to Parliament today, British Prime Minister Theresa May said that the Saudi claim that Khashoggi died in a fight "does not amount to a credible explanation" and there remains an "urgent need" to establish what happened.
She said that Britain would be taking action against "all suspects" to prevent them from entering Britain, following the US decision to revoke the visas of the Saudi suspects yesterday - a measure that seemed mostly symbolic since the suspects are unlikely to have free rein to travel.
"If these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today," May said, adding that she will be speaking to Saudi's King Salman.
Trump on Khashoggi's killing: "They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups. It's very simple. Bad deal. Should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up." (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/w9L4yDwsHe
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 23, 2018
Screengrab of CCTV footage released by Anadolu Agency shows a car with diplomatic number plates, that is believed to be owned by the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, visit Istanbul's Belgrad Forest one day before Jamal Khashoggi was killed https://t.co/0adxRQ7lVF pic.twitter.com/ZhLmdo1giq
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 24, 2018
Barrister says prosecutors focused on messages to undermine Erin Patterson's family ties.