German hostages freed in Turkey

[frigidmagi]

BBC

Three German climbers taken hostage by Kurdish armed rebel group the PKK have been freed and are in the hands of the Turkish government, officials say.

The tourists were seized from their camp on Mount Ararat in Turkey's eastern Agri province on 9 July.

The PKK had vowed not to release them unless Germany renounced its crackdown on the group, defined as a terrorist organisation by the US, EU and Turkey.

"We have the German mountaineers," a Turkish government spokesman said.

The Germans were part of a 13-member climbing team that had set up camp at 3,200m (10,500ft) on the mountain, the highest in Turkey and a popular tourist destination.

Rebels 'fled'

Mehmet Cetin, governor of Agri province, said the rebels had been forced to release the hostages after they were pursued by Turkish troops seeking to cut off their escape routes over the border.

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The released tourists leave an army compound

"They left them on a hill and fled," Mr Cetin told a televised news conference. "Half an hour later, paramilitary forces picked them up."

He said the three men were in good health and would be handed over to the German authorities after a routine medical check, the Associated Press reports.

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Their seizure came a month after Germany banned a Kurdish television station which the country's interior minister said was a mouthpiece for the armed group.

Germany also extradited two PKK militants to Turkey last year.

Turkey has in recent months stepped up its campaign against PKK bases in northern Iraq, in response to an increase in attacks by the group.

The PKK seeks autonomy for Kurds in south-eastern Turkey. More than 30,000 people have been killed since the group began its armed campaign in 1984.