ISIL’s Turkish hostages safe: Deputy PM Arınç

The government is in contact with the Turkish Consulate members in Mosul who were kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq and their whereabouts are known, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said on Sept. 1.

“Fortunately they are alive. Their whereabouts are known. We have contact with them,” Arınç said, noting that the government had not been able to bring them back to Turkey as the case “has a special situation.”

ISIL militants kidnapped 49 people from the Turkish Consulate-General in Mosul on June 11, including 46 Turkish nationals. The hostages were moved to another location in the city in early July, according to Turkish diplomats.

Meanwhile, British Ambassador to Turkey Richard Moore said there is “not a cigarette paper of difference” among NATO members, including Turkey, regarding the threat posed by ISIL.

“I don’t think there is even a cigarette paper of difference between NATO members in their attitude towards ISIL. We all recognize it for what it is,” Moore told reporters Sept. 1, in response to a question regarding Turkey’s attitude in declaring ISIL as a terrorist organization.

“I have noted comments from İbrahim Kalın, an adviser to the prime ministry, and the [Religious Affairs Directorate] Diyanet making it very clear about ISIL and its presumption in declaring itself a caliphate,” Moore added.

He also recalled that the U.K. and Turkey have a long standing cooperation on issues of counterterrorism and said there had been a lot of talks about foreign fighters.

“We think we have around 400-500 British citizens who have traveled to join the fight in Syria and Iraq...