A wild rumor claimed Jamal Khashoggi's body had been found in a well, but Turkey's president says it is still missing

Sky News

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan makes a statement on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate.

• A Turkish politician on Monday floated a wild rumor that journalist Jamal Khashoggi's body was found in a well near the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to have shot those rumors down by stating that "no one knows" where the body is.
• Turkish officials have continuously leaked intelligence and made bold public statements about Khashoggi's killing.
• Officials in Turkey promised that Erdogan's statement would reveal new facts about the killing, but the speech did little to advance the narrative or confirm previous gruesome rumours.

Turkey's president has publicly demanded the whereabouts of the body of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, shooting down a wild rumor that Khashoggi's body was found in a well in on the grounds of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where the journalist was killed.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told lawmakers of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Tuesday that he wanted to know where Khashoggi's body was.

"Where is the body of Jamal Khashoggi?" Erdogan said. "No one knows until now."

On Monday Doğu Perinçek, the chairman of Turkey's left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party, claimed that parts of Khashoggi's body was found in a well in the garden of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

It is not clear where he got that information from, or whether he was privy to Turkey's intelligence.

CCTV/Hurriyet via AP

Surveillance footage published by Turkish newspaper Hurriyet purports to show Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Erdogan on Tuesday also claimed that a "local person" had Khashoggi's body, but gave no further details.

"There is a claim that the body of Khashoggi has been given to a local person," the Turkish president said. "I am asking: Who is that local person?

"No one is talking about this local person. Someone has said that it was a local person. You need to reveal the name of this local person. No one is allowed to think that this case will come to an end without answering any of these questions."

Turkish officials have continually leaked intelligence reports about Khashoggi's killing to US and Turkish media outlets, as well as issued bold statements on the record implicating the Saudi leadership in the death.

Experts say this shows that Turkey is trying to extract some kind of concession from Saudi Arabia, which could come in the form of new contracts or an informal payment.