KIEV
Four members of an international monitoring team, including Turkish national Memet Kilic, captured by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have been released after 32 days in captivity early Friday.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in a statement that the four monitors were handed over to the Organization's officials in Donetsk, but that four others, who were taken captive in Luhansk, are still missing.
“Intense efforts have been taken on all levels to seek the immediate and unconditional release of the monitors,” the statement said.
Kilic thanked those who had helped in rescuing him and said he is in good health. "I am very happy because I will meet my family," he told Anadolu Agency in Donetsk.
His wife Zehra Kilic told Anadolu Agency that the whole family is excited about her husband's release. "Believe me, we are like in a dream," she said.
The separatists have said the release was a sign of goodwill, with no pre-conditions.
The Organization's chairperson, and Swiss Foreign Minister, Didier Burkhalter said in a statement he was grateful for the support of four Donetsk-based monitors in securing the release. He also called for the other four-member team to be released without delay.
The statement staid the freed monitors appeared to be in a good condition. The Organization lost contact with the two teams from Donetsk and Luhansk on May 26 and May 29.
"I talked to Kilic on the phone and I also talked to Kilic's wife to give her good news," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on his official twitter account.
The released observers are from Turkey, Switzerland, Estonia and Denmark. They had been sent to Ukraine to monitor an agreement reached in Geneva in April to east tension in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
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