Maltese police have not yet received any information about the Turkish man who is wanted in connection with the murder of a Bulgarian woman in Qawra last month.

There is still no trace of 29-year-old Mustafa Kosogeli, who police want to question over the killing of Irena Abadzhieva, 38, who was found in her apartment with 40 stab wounds, sources told The Sunday Times.

The man has evaded the authorities despite the fact that the Maltese police are working in conjunction with Interpol and Turkish police.

The suspect is believed to have lived with the victim – who used to work as a cleaner in a St Julian’s establishment – in a Qawra apartment before the gruesome discovery was made on June 4.

Mr Kosogeli was caught on camera boarding a flight to Turkey on June 2, four days after the crime is thought to have occurred. He had been in Malta illegally on a travel visa that expired about four years ago.

Questions sent by The Sunday Times to both Interpol and TADOC, the Turkish anti-crime academy remained unanswered.

Malta cannot request an arrest warrant before Turkey replies to a series of questions sent by Maltese police about the wanted man, including why he had decided to return to his home country.

Should Mr Kosogeli be captured, he might still not be extradited to Malta, where the crime took place, but could instead be tried in Turkey. This is because Turkey could invoke the so-called ‘nationality principle’ which permits a country to exercise criminal jurisdiction over any of its nationals accused of criminal offences in another state.

With Turkey aspiring to join the EU, the case could become a delicate matter since any intransigence could be interpreted as reluctance to cooperate with the demands of an EU state.

Still, the sources said Maltese police have “very good relations” with TADOC.