Iranian intelligence helps in release of Turkish workers in Iraq

Uğur Ergan - ANKARA

AA photo

The Iranian intelligence service stepped in for the release of Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq. The Turkish National Intelligence Service (MİT) had contacted Tehran and prominent Shiite leaders with leverage on Shiite militias for help in the workers’ case.

Iran urged the militias to end their action as soon as possible to prevent Shiite militias from getting into the habit of kidnapping like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

The Shiite militia released the hostages after the Syrian opposition lifted its siege on the towns of Fua and Kafrayya in Syria.

The release of the 16 Turkish workers came after the group released a videotape on Sept. 28, saying Ankara had met their demands. Turkey ordered the al-Fat’h militia, a Sunni militia in Syria, to ease the siege of two Shiite towns in northern Syria and opened a safe passage for people. 

Eighteen employees of major Turkish construction firm Nurol İnşaat were kidnapped on Sept. 2 by a Shiite militia group in Sadr City of north Baghdad, where they were working on a football stadium project. 

Dozens of Turks have been kidnapped but later released in Iraq in the past 18 months by ISIL, as they overran large parts of the country last year.