Three kidnapped Turkish nationals released in Libya

ANKARA

Ahmet Davutoğlu said via Twitter that he spoke on the phone with all three released hostages. AA Photo

Three Turkish nationals who were kidnapped in Libya in June were freed on Aug. 11 and received by the Turkish consulate general in Misrata on Aug. 12.

“I had a phone conversation with the three citizens a few minutes after they met with our consulate general. They are in a good state of health and they have spoken on the phone with their families,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu posted on his Twitter account on Aug. 12.

Nazım Süpürgeci and Emrah Bahçeci were abducted on June 24 by unknown groups in Libya, while Necip Fazıl Coşkunsu disappeared on June 21, Davutoğlu said, adding that they were then held at a location near the airport in the capital Tripoli. All three were released on Aug. 11 in the city of Tarhuna, he also said.

Nazım Süpürgeci and Emrah Bahçeci were both working for the Summa Construction Company, and were kidnapped in Tripoli after they left a camp for the company’s workers.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry advised against non-essential travel to Libya back in May, particularly advising Turkish citizens to avoid traveling to Benghazi and Tripoli due to increasingly intense armed clashes.

Hundreds of Turks left Libya after a call from a renegade Libyan general for Turks and Qataris to leave the country’s east within two days earlier this week. The spokesman for renegade Libyan general Khalifa Hafter told reporters in Benghazi on June 22 that citizens of Turkey and Qatar had “48 hours to leave,” warning that “measures would be taken” against those discovered after the ultimatum, which he said started on June 21.