Turkish hostages seized by ISIS in northern Iraq set free

[Baclava]

Source: Reuters, The Times of India

ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday 49 hostages seized by Islamic State militants in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June have been brought safely back to Turkey by the country's intelligence agency.

The hostages, including Turkish diplomats, soldiers and children, were seized from Turkey's consulate-general in June. Davutoglu said they were being brought to the southern Turkish city of Sanliurfa and that he would travel back from Azerbaijan, where he is on an official visit, to meet them.

"Today at 5 am we brought our citizens who were detained in Iraq to our country. From my heart, I thank the families who maintained their dignity," Davutoglu said on his Twitter account. He also thanked Turkey's MIT intelligence agency.

The seizure of the hostages had left Turkey, a member of the Nato military alliance and a key US ally in the Middle East, hamstrung in its response to the threat from Islamic State fighters over its southern borders in Iraq and Syria.


Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Turkish-hostages-seized-by-ISIS-in-northern-Iraq-set-free/articleshow/42970634.cms

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so, let the Syrian bombings begin!

[TwilightGardener]

1. Interesting--did they pay a ransom? Do they have high-level contacts with ISIS?

Was a deal made? Turkey isn't really a trustworthy ally and also enabled this group, so suspicion is in order.

[Baclava]

2. or a reward by ISIS to Turkey for not leting the US use our Incirlik airbase to fight them

who knows

[moondust]

3. Probably.

My hunch all along was that Turkey wouldn't publicly commit to the coalition because doing so could get those hostages killed. Glad they made it out.

[Baclava]

4. So the deal was - -'Turkey, Stay Out of Coalition and you get your hostages back'

something like that

[moondust]

5. More or less.

Maybe no guarantees from ISIS but Turkey wasn't going to take any chances.

Will be interesting to see what Turkey does now.

[Baclava]

6. Turkey has it's hands full, for sure - 'Thousands of Syrian Kurds flee ISIL advance'

About 45,000 cross into Turkey after Sunni fighters take dozens of villages along border, escalating fears of massacre.



Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey over the past day, fleeing an advance by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), who have seized dozens of villages close to the border, Turkish officials say.

"Around 45,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border as of now from eight entrance points along a 30km distance from Akcakale to Mursitpinar since we opened the border yesterday," Numan Kurtulmus, Turkish deputy prime minister, said.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/thousands-syrian-kurds-flee-isil-advance-201492082010981567.html

[morningfog]

7. IS use of hostages seems to be geared towards keeping counties from challenging them.

The the Americans they killed came after the US started bombing them in Iraq. The messages were basically "leave us alone or else the next ones get it."

For the Brit, it was after the UK announced joining the US in fighting IS.

Here, Turkey denied US use to launch attacks and refused to act militarily in the coalition. The Turkish hostages were released. Following this pattern, IS is likely looking to capture or kill someone from France.

[Baclava]

8. French govt to use Arabic ‘Daesh’ for Islamic State group

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a bit of a misnomer, says France, as it lends the imprimatur of Islam to a group that the vast majority of Muslims finds despicable. "This is a terrorist group and not a state. I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims, and Islamists," France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.

"The Arabs call it 'Daesh' and I will be calling them the 'Daesh cutthroats.'"

The name is commonly used by enemies of ISIS, and it also has many negative undertones, as Daesh sounds similar to the Arabic words Daes ("one who crushes something underfoot&quot

http://www.france24.com/en/20140917-france-switches-arabic-daesh-acronym-islamic-state/