Turkish investigators enter Saudi consul's Istanbul residence

Turkish investigators on Wednesday entered the residence of the Consul General of Saudi Arabia Mohammad al-Otaibi in Istanbul as a part of the probe investigating the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Mohammad al-Otaibi left Turkey on a commercial flight on Tuesday before his residence was expected to be searched by Turkish police, but experts didn’t enter due to claims of the family’s presence.

Khashoggi has long been feared killed at the consulate after he entered the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul on Oct. 2 and was never seen exiting.

Khashoggi was a U.S. resident who wrote columns for the Washington Post and he was critical of the Saudi government, calling for reforms.

Turkish officials have said they believe the Saudi journalist was murdered and his body removed, which the Saudis have strongly denied.

Turkish police entered the Saudi consulate on Monday for the first time since Khashoggi's disappearance two weeks ago, searching the premises for nine hours.