Kidnapped Turks rescued thanks to Iraq-US-Turkey cooperation

“We welcome the good news that our citizens -- Ali Hikmet Kulaksız, Bahtiyar Hasan Kılıç and Muttalip Kütük -- who were kidnapped in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Feb. 15, have been rescued following a successful operation carried out by Iraqi security forces. The US forces in Iraq also lent support to the operation. We convey our best wishes [to the three] -- who are in good health -- and their families,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released late Monday evening.

“The sensitivity and the active cooperation which has been displayed by the Iraqi government, Iraqi security officials and US forces in Iraq throughout the process of rescuing our citizens has been met with gratitude,” the ministry concluded.

In Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir said on Tuesday that the three were found in an abandoned village house during a raid near the city of Kirkuk. He said the three had their mouths taped shut and their hands and legs tied, but were otherwise in good condition. He did not further elaborate.

The three work for a Turkish company that specializes in cooling and elevator systems and were abducted when gunmen stormed their office. When the three workers were first kidnapped in February, an al-Qaeda affiliated group in Iraq, “Ansar Al Sunna”(Followers of the Sunna), reached the company and asked for a very large ransom, diplomatic sources told Today’s Zaman on Tuesday. Yet officials in Iraq could not determine that the three were really kidnapped by this group.

Just a few days after the ransom demand was conveyed to the company, a blame game started in the region, with some anonymous sources spreading the claim that the Arab groups kidnapped them because Turkey supported the Kurdish side in a land conflict between an Arab and a Kurdish tribe in the city, while some other anonymous sources claimed that they were actually kidnapped by the Kurdish groups because Turkey supported the Arab side in the same conflict. Yet, this claim couldn’t be verified either.

In the meantime, the ransom -- initially set at a much higher amount -- was decreased to a figure of around $50,000, with Iraqi officials displaying determination and advising the company that this ransom should not be paid as this would cause all kinds of groups to kidnap Turks working in the region for ransom.

“Right from the very beginning, there has been an active coordination between the central government of Iraq, Iraqi security forces and the US forces in the region,” a Turkish diplomat, speaking under the customary condition of anonymity, told Today’s Zaman on Tuesday. Kirkuk Police Chief Turhan Abdurrahman has played a key role in the operation, the diplomat underlined.

In Ankara, the Foreign Ministry and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officials were also in constant contact regarding the incident in Kirkuk, another Turkish official separately told Today’s Zaman on Tuesday.

Turkish and Iraqi officials cooperated throughout the entire process of locating the three citizens and the information gathered was shared by Iraqi authorities with the US forces. When the Iraqi police narrowed down the possible locations, the Iraqi police, Iraqi military forces and the US forces launched a joint operation on Monday afternoon, with three separate teams raiding three separate locations in Kirkuk simultaneously. Eventually, the three were found in one of the locations and were rescued without being harmed.

The operation was launched after obtaining consent from the families of the workers since there is always a risk entailed in these kinds of operations. The consent was taken from the families by the company.

Kulaksız, Kılıç and Kütük were brought to the Iraqi army’s 12th Division deployed near Kirkuk on Monday evening. After their safe and sound arrival, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu called the families of the three and gave them the good news personally, the diplomat said. As of Tuesday, following health check at the 12th Division, the three were set to be taken to an Iraqi court to give testimony If the related legal procedure is finalized, they will be sent to Turkey today [Wednesday] on the first scheduled flight from the city of Arbil on board of a plane of the private Atlasjet company.