Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said 16 workers were released.
Advertisement
The workers were building an athletic stadium, the ministry said. There was no immediate information on the circumstances of their release.
The kidnappers originally had a list of demands for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that included “stopping Turkish fighters from going into Iraq, blocking the flow of “stolen oil” from Kurdistan, and ending attacks on Shia villages in Syria”, according to Vice News.
Two of them were released in the southern city of Basra two weeks later.
They are expected to return to Turkey on Wednesday or Thursday after a debriefing, said Ugur Dogan, the chief executive of the men’s employer Nurol Holding.
Iraqi security officials confirmed Wednesday that the remained hostages had been found alive and safe near Mosayeb, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, and had been transported to the capital.
Asked about the terms of the release, Faruk Kaymakci, the Turkish ambassador to Iraq, said none were discussed.
A video of the kidnapped Turkish workers was released online Sunday, in which a captured Turkish man reads a statement saying they were treated well by their captors, RUDAW reported. While kidnapping for ransom has continued, large-scale abductions have been nearly unheard of in the past few years.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced Wednesday 16 of the Turkish workers will be returning home safely.
Advertisement
IS abducted 46 Turks from the country’s consulate when the militants seized the northern city of Mosul in June 2014, as well as more than 30 Turkish truck drivers.
