The transfer of the case over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia does not rule out Turkish courts’ right to have a say in the case, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said Thursday.

"The file is open, only the trial will be halted. The trial will continue in Saudi Arabia," Bozdağ said.

Khashoggi, who wrote critically of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, disappeared on Oct. 2, 2018, after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, seeking documents that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancee. He never reemerged from the consulate.

Khashoggi's death four years ago strained relations between the two countries, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying at the time it had been ordered at the highest levels of the Saudi government.

Riyadh requested last month that the case be transferred to the kingdom, according to the Turkish state prosecutor, who asked for the request to be accepted because statements could not be taken from the 26 Saudi defendants being tried in absentia.

The Justice Ministry approved the request, and the court ruled recently to halt the case and transfer it to Saudi authorities.