SEARCH OF SAUDI EMBASSY CONSTRAINED BY LAW

Turkey has so far declined to search the Saudi consulate for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi because its hands are bound by a set of international laws governing how host countries behave toward their embassies.

Embassies and consulates occupy a curious space. Though they live on land belonging to their host nation, the 1961 Vienna Convention lays out clear rules for how a host country can behave. Under international law, police and security officials cannot enter an embassy without the express permission of the embassy ambassador. Consular bags — which can contain private paperwork, communications or other goods — are not to be opened by the host nation.