49 Turkish hostages seized in northern Iraq are now free, says PM Davutoglu

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday that 49 hostages seized by Islamic State (IS) militants in June have been brought safely back to Turkey by the country’s intelligence agency. The hostages were brought to the southern Turkish city of Sanliurfa in the early hours of the morning. Police formed a cordon outside the airport as they arrived in buses with curtains drawn. Speaking to reporters in Azerbaijan, where he is on an official visit, Davutoglu declined to give details on the circumstances of the hostages’ release. But he said he would be returning home to meet the freed hostages and fly with them to the capital Ankara.

Today at 5 a.m. we brought our citizens who were detained in Iraq to our country. From my heart, I thank the families who maintained their dignity.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Twitter

The hostages, including Turkish diplomats, soldiers and children, were seized from Turkey’s consulate-general in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June. It had left Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance and a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, hamstrung in its response to the threat from IS fighters over its southern borders in Iraq and Syria. The United States is planning military action in Syria against IS, but Turkey did not want to take a frontline role, partly because of fears for the fate of the hostages.

I thank the prime minister and his colleagues for the pre-planned, carefully calculated and secretly-conducted operation throughout the night. MIT has followed the situation very sensitively and patiently since the beginning and, as a result, conducted a successful rescue operation.”

President Tayyip Erdogan

Middle East turkey hostages