Relatives Of Mosul Envoy Call On Gov't For Hostage Information

Relatives of Turkey's Mosul Consul-General Öztürk Yılmaz expressed their concern regarding the Turkish citizens held captive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Sunday and called on the government to provide information about whether Yılmaz and the other hostages are still alive.

Feridun Yılmaz, a relative of the consul general, lashed out at the government for failing to rescue the hostages and called on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to bring them back to Turkey.

On June 11, 49 people -- including Yılmaz and other diplomatic staff, members of the special forces and children -- were taken hostage by the ISIL terrorist group. ISIL broke into Turkey's Consulate General in Mosul after threatening the diplomats inside with a bomb attack.

Speaking to the press and the relatives, Republican People's Party (CHP) Ardahan deputy Ensar Öğüt said Yılmaz's relatives are concerned since there have been claims that the hostages were killed.

“Have the hostages been killed or not? If they are alive, where are they? The government has to inform the relatives [of the kidnapped Turkish citizens] properly,” said Öğüt.

In an interview with Al Jazeera released on Al Jazeera Turk's website on Saturday, Erdoğan expressed his hope that ISIL will release the hostages soon.

When asked what measures Turkey is taking against ISIL for the kidnap of its citizens, Erdoğan said: “ISIL [militants] claim to be Muslim yet they are holding 49 hostages who are Muslim as well…The hostages should be released.”

There are also claims that Turkey has promised to hand over the sole piece of Turkish territory outside the country's borders to ISIL. Last week, the Taraf daily claimed that Ankara had agreed to hand over the Tomb of Suleyman Shah (Süleyman Şah Türbesi) -- the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire -- which is located within Syria, to the radical terrorist group within three weeks.

However, the Turkish Foreign Ministry later issued a statement on Aug. 21 denying the claims. The ministry issued a statement saying that press claims about the hostage situation are “baseless and greatly irresponsible.”

The ministry also said that exploiting issues such as national security and the well-being of Turkish citizens is “not acceptable” and an abuse of press freedom. “With such a sensitive subject, journalists should act in line with media ethics and avoid baseless, speculative and irresponsible reporting that manipulates the public. We urge all media organizations to be sensitive to such issues and we ask the Turkish people to ignore such reports,” said the Foreign Ministry.

It was also stated that the ministry is, in cooperation with other government bureaus, working to bring the personnel of the Mosul consulate back to Turkey as soon as possible.

Another relative of three Turkish captives in the Iraqi city of Mosul, Muammer Taşdelen, called the Turkish government irresponsible last week and accused it of failing to fulfill its duties in rescuing the hostages.

Taşdelen also launched a petition on the change.org website to put more pressure on the authorities to investigate those officials who have been negligent in the latest crisis. More than 20,000 people have already signed the petition, demanding that the officials responsible for this situation be investigated.

Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru recently called Taşdelen “irresponsible” for speaking to the press about the captives, claiming that he is putting the lives of the hostages at risk.

Koru told Today's Zaman last week that the government is carrying out delicate negotiations concerning the hostages and for security reasons the families prefer not to speak to the media -- except Taşdelen. Koru added that the other families had also expressed their discontent with Taşdelen's remarks to the press as it harms the negotiation process.

-- Turkish father claims his son is ISIL's “50th hostage”

Şahin Aktan, a divorced father of a three-year-old son taken to Syria by his mother Svetlana Hasanova, claimed on Sunday that his ex-wife joined ISIL in August, adding that he is worried for his son.

According to a report by the Hürriyet daily, Şahin got it touch with Hasanova on the Internet and she said she is in the Syrian city of Raqqa. “My son is ISIL's 50th hostage,” claimed Şahin.

Ethem Kaan Çelik, Şahin's lawyer, said they are concerned for the life of the child. He stressed that Hasanova joined ISIL and, in the event that she loses her life, the child will be raised as a jihadist by the terrorist group.

In a related development, German television station ARD claimed last week that ISIL has a liaison office in İstanbul's Fatih district and that many militants going to Syria have been given money in amounts of up to 400 euros at this office along with help crossing the Turkish border to join the terrorist organization's militants advancing across the region. The story is said to be based on information the station received from its sources in the European Commission (EC).

SHOTLIST
TURKEY, ARDAHAN, 31 AUG 2014

VAR of the relatives of hostages
VAR of the statements of relatives

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