Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea have returned to Turkey and described the death threats they faced during their three-week ordeal.
The sailors embraced their families on Sunday after disembarking at Istanbul Airport, where they were greeted by Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and other officials, two days after news of their release in Nigeria emerged.
“We were in a forest. There were tough conditions. There were constantly armed men at our side,” Mustafa Kaya, captain of the ship MV Mozart from which the crew were abducted, was cited as saying by the Demiroren news agency.
Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea have been freed in Nigeria and will head home, a shipping company executive said on Friday, two weeks after the attackers made contact to discuss a ransom. One sailor, a citizen of Azerbaijan, was killed in the raid on Jan. 23 which .
Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea have been freed in Nigeria and will head home, a shipping company executive said on Friday, two weeks after the attackers made contact to discuss a ransom.
By Alper Ziya - Trend:
Some 15 Turkish sailors taken hostage by sea pirates off the coast of Nigeria were rescued, Director General of Boden Denizcilik A.S. Levent Karsan, Trend reports on Feb. 12. The health of the sailors is normal, they are in Nigeria and will be transported to Turkey within two days, Karsan added.
Sea pirates attacked the Turkish Mozart ship on January 23 in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria. The cargo ship was sailing under the flag of Liberia and pirates attacked the ship 100 nautical miles (185 km) off the Nigerian coast.
Pirates killed mechanical engineers, citizens of Azerbaijan Farman Ismayilov. All other hostages are Turkish citizens. Among surviving 18 crew members, three were left on board.