ARBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan, Nov 4, 2007 (AFP) The eight Turkish soldiers taken prisoner by the PKK were freed and handed over on Sunday to senior officials from Iraq's northern regional government, a top Kurdish rebel leader told AFP.
Abdurrahman Cadirci, the head of foreign relations for the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, said the eight were released at 7:30 am (0430 GMT) Iraqi time.
"I personally handed them to Karim Sinjari, the internal affairs minister at the Kurdistan Regional Government and Othman Haji, the interior minister," Cadirci told AFP.
He said the soldiers' release came after mediation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Ahmed Turk, the head of the Party for Democratic Society, a political group based in Turkey.
The KRG also confirmed the release of the eight soldiers.
"After personal attempts by Kurdistan regional president Massud Barzani, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan regional prime minister Nechirvan Barzani, the Turkish soldiers who were detained by the PKK were released this morning," the KRG said in a statement.
The soldiers were captured when their unit was ambushed near the border with Iraq on October 21.
The attack left 12 other soldiers dead, raising regional tensions as Turkey threatened to launch military strikes in Iraqi territory to flush the rebels from their bases.
The Turkish army never officially acknowledged the soldiers' capture, instead listing them as missing in action.
Abdurrahman Cadirci, the head of foreign relations for the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, said the eight were released at 7:30 am (0430 GMT) Iraqi time.
"I personally handed them to Karim Sinjari, the internal affairs minister at the Kurdistan Regional Government and Othman Haji, the interior minister," Cadirci told AFP.
He said the soldiers' release came after mediation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Ahmed Turk, the head of the Party for Democratic Society, a political group based in Turkey.
The KRG also confirmed the release of the eight soldiers.
"After personal attempts by Kurdistan regional president Massud Barzani, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan regional prime minister Nechirvan Barzani, the Turkish soldiers who were detained by the PKK were released this morning," the KRG said in a statement.
The soldiers were captured when their unit was ambushed near the border with Iraq on October 21.
The attack left 12 other soldiers dead, raising regional tensions as Turkey threatened to launch military strikes in Iraqi territory to flush the rebels from their bases.
The Turkish army never officially acknowledged the soldiers' capture, instead listing them as missing in action.
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