3 of 5 Turks released after kidnapped in Sudan return to Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) - Three of five Turkish nationals who were released two days ago after being held hostage for five months in Sudan returned to Turkey on Saturday. Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal said that Mustafa Ozdinc, Nazmi Surmeli and Mustafa Alki arrived in Turkey on Saturday morning by a Turkish Airlines (THY) plane. One of two Turkish citizens would stay in Sudan with his family and the other one will return to Turkey two days later, he said. A statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that five Turkish citizens employed by a Turkish company, abducted within the borders of the Republic of the Sudan's State of North Darfur on September 9, 2011 while travelling to Chad in order to dig water wells, have been released on February 2 following a period of approximately five months. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey has made phone conversations with each one of them in order to convey them his best wishes for a speedy recovery and inquire about their health conditions, it said. "Our citizens are in good health and they will be promptly transferred to Turkey via Khartoum," the statement said. "We wholeheartedly thank all the sides who sincerely exerted great efforts for the release of our citizens, especially the authorities of the Republic of the Sudan and the officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Office in Sudan," it said.