Turkish firm freezes Iraq operations
A Turkish construction company is halting operations in neighbouring Iraq in a bid to save the lives of 10 employees kidnapped by militants.
Meanwhile, state TRT television reported the body of a Turk, identified as Akar Besir, was found early yesterday near Mosul. The report said Besir was employed as a driver for a firm working for the US military and was kidnapped on Saturday. No other details were immediately available.
Yesterday, Tahsin Top, a Turkish hostage in Iraq whose company withdrew from Iraq was released by his kidnappers, the foreign ministry said.
Top had been abducted north of Baghdad on August 5 by kidnappers who threatened to behead him if his Turkish employer did not withdraw from Iraq. Top’s company, Atahan Lojistik International, later withdrew from Iraq. The kidnappers then demanded $45,000 (€36,500) for Top’s release. It was not clear if any money was paid.
The Ankara-based Vinsan construction company said in a statement it was freezing operations and added that its 10 kidnapped employees were innocent and were trying to support their families.
The statement was signed by Vinsan chairman of board Ali Haydar Veziroglu, who was in Baghdad.
In a video broadcast on Saturday by Al-Jazeera television, a previously unknown militant group calling itself the “Salafist Brigades of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq” said it would kill the 10 hostages if the company did not pull out of Iraq within three days.
In his statement addressed to the Iraqi people, Veziroglu said his company was not involved in partnerships with any US firms and was working on a road project.
“Asking the Turkish companies including our company to leave Iraqi territories by using illegal and odious deeds is sorrowful and dubious,” Veziroglu said. “Dear beloved Iraqi people, we do not deserve this.”
Veziroglu also called on Iraqi clerics to intervene.
Most of the 10 hostages were truck drivers, according to the company.
Vinsan was one of 21 international companies taking part in a road construction project in Iraq.
A number of Turks have been kidnapped and several have been killed, and at least seven Turkish companies have withdrawn from Iraq to secure the release of kidnapped staff.
