The Turks, including diplomatic staff, were seized from the consulate on June 11, when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group overran Mosul, Iraq and stormed the Turkish Consulate there. The hostages included Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, other diplomats, children and special forces police.
Davutoglu told Turkish reporters during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan that the hostages were released early on Saturday and had arrived in Turkey. He was cutting his visit short to meet with the hostages in the province of Sanliurfa, near Turkey’s border with Syria.
He did not provide details on the circumstances of their release but said the hostages were freed through the intelligence agency’s “own methods” and that no operation was carried out. He thanked Turkey’s intelligence agency and the Foreign Ministry’s head official for their efforts toward their release.
- Turkey had publicly resisted joining a coalition to defeat group, citing its 49 kidnapped citizens.
The extremist group has beheaded two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker who were working in Syria as payback for airstrikes that Washington has launched against them in Iraq.
“I am sharing a joyful news which as a nation we have been waiting for,” Davutoglu said. “After intense efforts that lasted days and weeks, in the early hours, our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country.”
“They have crossed into Turkey and I am on my way to see them,” Davutoglu said.
Thirty-two Turkish truck drivers who were also seized in Mosul in June 6 were released a month later. Turkey did not provide information surrounding their release.
Last Update: Saturday, 20 September 2014 KSA 08:38 - GMT 05:38
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/09/20/Turkish-hostages-seized-in-northern-Iraq-are-free.html
20/9/14
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49 türkische Geiseln wieder frei...
ReplyDeleteNach mehr als drei Monaten in den Händen der Terrormiliz Islamischer Staat sind 49 türkische Geiseln wieder frei. Das gab der türkische Ministerpräsident Ahmet Davutoglu bei einem Besuch in der aserbaidschanischen Hauptstadt Baku bekannt. Die Gruppe sei seit dem frühen Morgen auf freiem Fuß und bereits in der Türkei angekommen, sagte der Regierungschef. Die Befreiung sei das Ergebnis "tagelanger, wochenlanger harter Arbeit", sagte er weiter. Einzelheiten zu den Umständen der Freilassung nannte er zunächst nicht. Unter den Gefangenen waren mehrere diplomatische Mitarbeiter.
Vor drei Monaten entführt
Die Türken waren am 11. Juni bei Kämpfen um die irakische Stadt Mossul gefangen genommen worden, nachdem die Terroristen das türkische Konsulat gestürmt hatten. Davutoglu berichtete vor türkischen Journalisten, er verkürze seinen Besuch in Aserbaidschan wegen der Nachricht von der Freilassung. "Ich teile eine freudige Nachricht, auf die unsere Nation gewartet hat", sagte der Ministerpräsident. Er kündigte an, die Freigelassenen in der Provinz Sanliurfa an der türkisch-syrischen Grenze zu treffen....................http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/turkei-100.html
Turkish intelligence releases details of operation to free 49 captives...
ReplyDeleteThe intelligence operation that freed 49 Turks from the clutches of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was carried out by the exterior operations department of National Intelligence Organization (MİT), a Turkish intelligence source has said, adding that no foreign intelligence operations were involved.
No ransom was paid and there was no agreement for a swap of hostages. The hostages changed places at least seven times and there were at least five opportunities to free them, but escalating clashes in the region ruled out the possibility of freeing them sooner, according to the source.
The last intelligence operation started a few days ago. They were held in the vicinity of Mosul, but ISIL did not want to hand over the hostages due to problems stemming from their current battle with the People’s Defense Forces (YPG) of Rojava in northern Syria. Eventually, the jihadist group brought the captives to Tel Abyad, the Syrian town across from the Turkish town of Akçakale.
The operation was completed just after 1 a.m., Sept. 20.
MİT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan informed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was on an official visit to Azerbaijan, about the operation, according to the source.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-intelligence-releases-details-of-operation-to-free-49-captives.aspx?pageID=238&nID=71958&NewsCatID=352
Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday met with 49 Turkish consulate hostages who were released early Saturday after being seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June.....
ReplyDeleteThe meeting was held at GAP Airport in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Davutoglu and the freed hostages have boarded a flight to the capital, Ankara, where he is expected to hold a press conference.
Sanliurfa Governor Izzettin Kucuk visited the Turkish hostages, who were in a public building in Sanlıurfa, and told press that they were in good health. “When our prime minister come to the airport, you will see all of them there,” Kucuk added.
Turkish PM Davutoglu cut short his Azerbaijan visit to meet the hostages in Sanliurfa.
49 hostages - diplomats, consular officials and their families - were kidnapped from the Mosul consulate on June 11, a day after ISIL took control of Iraq's second-largest city.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/392155--pm-davutoglu-meets-freed-turkish-hostages