Political analysts noted that Mr. Erdogan seemed to increase the pressure by releasing descriptions of audio recordings after it appeared that President Trump would offer cover to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, known as M.B.S., by promoting the Saudi line that the death had been the work of “rogue killers.”

“Erdogan had hoped that Trump and the Saudis would take the exit path of throwing someone senior under the bus,” said Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “But when Trump starting trending toward defending M.B.S., Erdogan released more details to build pressure on them.”

Even on Friday, still more details of the investigation emerged, as the police extended their search to three locations in and around Istanbul where, according to a Turkish official, vehicles from the Saudi Consulate were seen driving in the hours after Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance. The official spoke on the condition that he not be named because of diplomatic proprieties.

Yet no newspaper has actually obtained the audio or even listened to it, allowing the government not only to safeguard their provenance but also to maintain control over how much it reveals — and when.

The abiding irony of Mr. Khashoggi’s case is that, while pushing out details of the case to chosen outlets, Mr. Erdogan’s government has itself been openly hostile to independent journalists. So has Mr. Trump, if not nearly to the same degree.