Iraqi Militants Release 32 Turkish Truck Drivers

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/world/europe/iraqi-militants-release-turkish-truck-drivers.html

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ISTANBUL — Islamist militants in Iraq released 32 Turkish truck drivers on Thursday after holding them for nearly a month, Turkish officials said.

The drivers were handed over to security forces at the United Nations’ Mahmur camp in the Kurdish region of Iraq before they were escorted to the Turkish consulate in Erbil, Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said in a televised statement.

Mr. Davutoglu said all the hostages were in good health. They are scheduled to fly to Turkey on Thursday evening.

Mehmet Kizil, the owner of the transportation company employing the drivers, said that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria had demanded $5 million to $10 million on separate occasions for the men’s release, but that the government had taken over negotiations. It was not immediately clear whether the government had paid ransom for the hostages’ release.

One of the truck drivers, Servet Karakan, said that he had lived in constant fear since the group was captured on June 9 by militants from ISIS. “Not a day went by without thinking it could be my last,” he said by telephone. “Today my prayers have been answered by God almighty.”

The drivers were delivering diesel fuel from a Turkish port to a power plant in Mosul when they were intercepted and kidnapped by ISIS militants, who were making sweeping territorial gains in northern and western Iraq.

Family members of the hostages said the drivers had been kept at the plant in the scorching heat for weeks before they were given enough water to bathe.

“They were given basic necessities such as food and water, but that was it,” said Mehmet Turgut, an imam who had four relatives among the captives. “They kept telling us they were O.K., but the stress and anxiety that they went through will no doubt have a lasting impact on their psychology.”

Another 49 Turkish citizens, who were seized at the Turkish consulate in Mosul a month ago, are still being held by militants. Among them are the consul general, his staff and his three children.

Turkish officials said they were working around the clock to ensure the safe release of their citizens, but they have banned the Turkish news media from reporting on the issue.