Two of 18 abducted Turkish workers released in Iraq

ANKARA

Two of 18 Turkish workers abducted early this month in a Baghdad suburb by an armed Shia group were released on Wednesday in the southern city of Basra, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic, speaking at a press conference, identified the two released Turkish workers as Necdet Yilmaz and Ercan Ozpilavci.

Turkish embassy officials in Baghdad, for their part, told Anadolu Agency that the two men were in good health and went on to voice hope for the speedy release of the 16 remaining abductees.

The released workers said they were brought to a Turkish company’s building site by an unidentified group that dressed them in military uniforms, Ahmed al-Seliti, spokesman of Basra province’s council, told Anadolu Agency.

The two workers released on Wednesday are both expected to soon return to Turkey.

The 18 workers were abducted on Sept. 2 from a construction site in Sadr City, a majority-Shia suburb of Baghdad, by unidentified gunmen in army uniform.

All those abducted are employees of Nurol Holding, a Turkish construction firm that is currently carrying out development projects in the Iraqi capital.

Last week, a video appeared online purportedly showing the 18 abductees kneeling before five masked men brandishing guns. 

In the video, the abductees – who include three engineers and an accountant – give their names and the names of their hometowns in Turkey.

The subtitled video includes a call on the Turkish government to meet the kidnappers’ demands in order to secure the hostages’ release.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, has said it was making every effort to secure the men’s release.

Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic told Anadolu Agency that Turkey was closely monitoring the situation and urging the Iraqi authorities to do everything in its power to secure the release of the hostages.

In June of last year, 49 Turkish hostages were released by their captors in Iraq after having been abducted by the Daesh militant group when the latter overran Mosul, Iran’s second largest city.