ANKARA, Sept. 20 (Xinhuaa) -- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday that the Turkish hostages held by Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Iraq were freed, private Dogan news agency reported.
Davutoglu, who is visiting Azerbaijan, said that he decided to shorten his trip to Baku and will meet the released Turkish hostages in southern Sanliurfa province in southeastern Turkey.
"Today at 5 a.m. we brought our citizens who were detained in Iraq to our country, " Davutoglu said.
A group of IS armed attackers took control of the Turkish consulate in Mosul in Iraq on June 11, and abducted 49 people including the consul general, staff and their family members.
Related:
Turkey mulls buffer zone to contain possible IS threat
ANKARA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday held a high-level security meeting in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss the growing threat of the extremist Islamic State (IS) and to discuss the possible establishment of a buffer zone to contain the IS advance, Turkish media reported.
Erdogan held the first national security meeting after he was elected as president during the presidential elections in Turkey on Aug. 10. Full story
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