An armed opposition group linked with the newly established Islamic Front freed Turkish photojournalist Bunyamin Aygun of the daily Milliyet, who returned to Turkey on Sunday after having been held captive since late November by an al-Qaeda linked group in Syria.
In his first remarks to the press after arriving in Turkey, Aygun said that he was kidnapped by the Islamic State of Syria and Al-Sham (or ISIS), an al-Qaeda affiliate trying to control war-torn Syria.
"Ahrar al-Sham group [a member of the umbrella group Islamic Front] has saved me today," said Aygun.
"After the Turkish Foreign Ministry stepped in, the group has put important pressure on the ones in the house they [ISIS] was holding me. They also captured the ones who hold me captive," he said.
The Islamic Front, known as the biggest armed group fighting inside Syria, is a merger of seven rebel groups including Aleppo-based Liwa al-Tawhid, Salafist Ahrar al-Sham, Homs-based Liwa al-Haqq, Idlib-based Suqour al-Sham, Damascus-based Jaysh al-Sham, Ansar al-Sham and also Kurdish Islamic Front.
The group was founded last November and they said they are not affiliated with any foreign group or state.
A team from the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has met the photojournalist in Syria, and brought him back to Turkey late on Sunday.
