Photo taken on Oct. 16, 2018 shows Saudi Arabia's Consul General's residence in Istanbul, Turkey. Saudi Arabia's Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi left Turkey on Tuesday for his home country ahead of a search of his residence, Turkish media reported. (Xinhua/He Canling)

ISTANBUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi left Turkey on Tuesday for his home country ahead of a search of his residence, Turkish media reported.

Al-Otaibi left Istanbul on a commercial flight from the Ataturk Airport, as Turkish and Saudi teams were prepared to search his residence over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the NTV broadcaster reported.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier that a Turkish team would expand its investigation to include a search of al-Otaibi's residence and vehicles of the consulate.

A Turkish team, including police and crime scene investigators, conducted a nine-hour search at the Saudi consulate building on Monday, which lasted until early Tuesday.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia agreed last week to work together to investigate Khashoggi's disappearance and conduct a joint search of the consulate where he was last seen on Oct. 2.

Some media reports speculated that Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi government, was murdered in the consulate with his body removed, but Saudi Arabia has dismissed the allegations.