Abducted diplomats unharmed, Ankara holds emergency meeting
ANKARA
Turkish officials have learned that the Turkish Mosul Consulate staff abducted by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on June 11 are in a good state of health, Turkish sources have told the Hürriyet Daily News.The Consulate had prepared a discharge plan on June 10, but was unable to implement it, the Daily News has also learned.
Militants seized the Turkish consulate in the Iraqi city of Mosul on June 11, kidnapping the head of the diplomatic mission and a number of other staff members.
An emergency meeting on developments in Iraq was held at the prime ministry with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay and National Intelligence Agency (MİT) chief Hakan Fidan. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has also cut his U.S. trip short due to events.