Deputy foreign minister meets families of Turkish hostages in Iraq

Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru on June 27 met with families of the Turkish consulate personnel who were taken hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Koru on June 26 met with the families of the 31 Turkish drivers who were kidnapped in Mosul.

Some 49 Turkish citizens, including Consul-General Öztürk Yıldırım and 31 truck drivers have been held by ISIL since June 11, after militants seized control of Mosul and the surrounding cities.

Meanwhile, the four Turkish citizens, who were kidnapped by ISIL, but were released with the efforts of Iraqi Turkmens in Kirkuk, are still in Sulaymaniyah, due to their “business connections,” a Foreign Ministry official told the Daily News.