Turkey has activated the diplomatic and political channels to save the Turkish lorry drivers who had been abducted in the Iraqi city of Mosul by militants, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday.
Turkish minister said 28 Turkish lorry drivers transporting fuel to a thermal power plant were captured by militants after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters raided the plant in the Gyarah region of Mosul -- Iraq's second-largest city -- where ISIL reportedly assumed full control early Tuesday.
"We are currently in a busy traffic of exchange [with authorities] to ensure the rescue of the drivers as soon as possible. There has been a continuous exchange between Ankara, Irbil, Baghdad, Tehran, Washington and Mosul in the last 24 hours," Davutoglu told Anadolu Agency during his official visit in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Davutoglu said they confirmed that the drivers were in good condition.
"Several radical terrorist groups who are trying to fill and benefit from the security gap in Iraq and Syria are willing to prove themselves," said Davutoglu, referring to Monday's twin suicide bombing at a security checkpoint in Iraq's predominantly Turkmen-populated town of Tuz Khormato that killed at least 32 people and injured 110 others.
Earlier in the day, security sources told AA that the militants had controlled Mosul airport as they swept the northern half of the city.
Several local television channels transmitting from the city had gone off air following the militants' advance.
Mosul has been home to violent clashes between the Iraqi security forces and ISIL militants since Friday, which left scores of people dead. Thousands of residents have fled the city after the seizure of self-styled militant group.
www.aa.com.tr/en
