Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq released
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 30 September 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq released, 30 September 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/561d04e115.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
September 30, 2015
Sixteen Turkish workers who had been kidnapped in Baghdad and held for nearly a month have been released and flown back home.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the workers were handed over to the Turkish ambassador in Iraq on September 30 and that they were all in good health.
He did not provide information on the circumstances of the release.
The men were among 18 employees of a Turkish construction firm abducted on September 2 in northern Baghdad.
Two of them were released in the southern city of Basra two weeks later.
A video from a previously unknown militant group showed the hostages, and demanded that Turkey halt the flow of militants into Iraq, cut the flow of oil from Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region through Turkish territory, and order rebel forces to stop besieging Shi'ite villages in northern Syria.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
