Abducted Turkish pilots in Lebanon in good condition: Arınç

ISTANBUL

Turkish officials have made contact with the abducted Turkish pilots in Lebanon and they are safe and sound, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has announced.

"I hope we will be reunited with them as soon as possible," Arınç said, adding that the place where the pilots were being kept was also known. "We know that they are alive and in good condition."

On Aug. 9, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying a Turkish Airlines crew from Beirut's international airport to a hotel in the city, kidnapping the two pilots, Murat Akpınar and Murat Ağca. The group reportedly demands that Turkey use its influence with Syria’s rebels to secure the release of nine Lebanese Shiites kidnapped in Syria in May 2012.