Eight Hostage Soldiers Released
After a battle in Daglica, Hakkari, on 21 October, where 12 soldiers were killed, eight more had been taken hostage. On Sunday morning (4 November) they were released to a delegation in Northern Iraq. After medical check-ups in Erbil, they landed at the Diyarbakir military airport on the same day. They will now be questioned in Ankara.
Handed over to a delegation
According to Firat News Agency, PKK leaders announced at around 5 am that the soldiers had been released. They were handed over to a delegation of three MPs from the Democratic Society Party (DTP) from Turkey, Osman Özcelik, Aysel Tugluk and Fatma Kurtalan, as well as a regional leader Haci Mahmut Osman and Kerim Sincari, the President of the International Tolerance Foundation in Northern Iraq.
Northern Iraqi officials had made efforts towards release
According to CnnTürk news, the soldiers were brought from Erbil to Turkey in a special plane. Iraqi's Minister of Defense Casim and Coalition Forces Commander Petraeus were also on the plane.
According to the Reuters News Agency, Abdurrahman Cadirici made a statement to the agency in the name of the PKK announcing the release and also demanding the release of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
DTP MP Özcelik told CnnTürk that the soldiers had been held in a safe area and that the regional government in Northern Iraq had contributed to their release.
General Staff: Minimal information
The General Staff published a statement on its official website, saying:
"On 22 October 2007 the General Staff had annonced that contact with eight members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) could not be established after a battle with PKK members in the Hakkari/Daglica area. Those eight soldiers rejoined the TAF on 4 November 2007."
The eight soldiers who were released are: Privates Ramazan Yüce (Mersin), Irfan Beyaz (Gaziantep), Nihat Basova (Konya/Cihanbeyli), Ilhami Demir (Agri/Patnos), Fatih Atakul (Denizli), Özhan Sabanoglu (Hatay), and sergeants Mehmet Senkul (Nigde) and Halis Cagan (Adana/Tufanbeyli). (EK/NZ/AG)