Abducted Workers Released

Two labourers who were abducted by the People's Defence Forces (HPG) on 14 July in Dersim were released on Monday (19 July). The HPG is the armed wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

As reported by the Fırat News Agency (ANF), workers Mustafa Arıkan and Murat Keskin were abducted in the course of an identity check when their car was stopped close to the town of Ovacık as part of the province of Dersim in the predominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey. Arıkan and Keskin were kept hostage for four days.

Both Arıkan and Keskin are working for the Egemen construction company that constructs military buildings. They were released nearby the village of Yaylagünü. They were then brought to the Provincial Gendarmerie Command to take their statements.

On 16 July, the HPG had made a statement that they "caught two people and that their interrogation was still being continued". The announcement read, "Our guerrillas caught two workers named Mustafa Arıkan and Murat Keskin who are working for the Egemen construction company that builds the police station in Dersim".

It was reported that both labourers worked at the ongoing construction of the Battalion Command Service Building in Ovacık. (IC/ŞA/VK)