ANKARA, TURKEY — Three Germans seized by Kurdish rebels during a climbing expedition on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey more than a week ago were released Sunday in good condition, authorities said.
The hostages were released at noon, the pro-Kurdish news agency Firat quoted the Kurdistan Workers’ Party rebel command as saying.
The three men were kidnapped from eastern Agri Province on July 8, allegedly as a rebel protest against a German crackdown on supporters of the group, which is known as the PKK.
Agri Gov. Mehmet Cetin said the three were in good condition and would return to Germany on Monday.
The climbers dined with Cetin at the police guest house in the city of Agri and told reporters that they were happy because “days filled with horror were over,” the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the release, saying: “I am relieved.” “I want to thank everyone who played a role” in the release, she said.
The rebels have been fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984 in a campaign that has left tens of thousands of people dead. Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
A PKK spokesman had said the group seized the climbers to force Germany to halt the crackdown on its supporters.
The PKK is banned in Germany, where authorities have arrested and tried suspected PKK members. Last month, the German government banned economic support for Roj TV, a station that Turkey says is a propaganda machine for the PKK.
German authorities had refused to be blackmailed into negotiating the climbers’ release.
“Our thanks goes to the Turkish government and local security officials who from the beginning supported our efforts to work toward a solution,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin.
Dogan news agency reported that the climbers were brought to the city of Agri from the border town of Dogubayazit, close to Mount Ararat.
Merkel declined to reveal any details, saying only: “It is a good thing. Many people worked hard for this in the past days and those efforts have paid off.” Cetin said the rebels were forced to free the hostages after being pursued by Turkish troops.
“They left them on a hill and fled,” Cetin told a televised news conference. “Half an hour later, paramilitary forces picked them up.” Cetin said the climbers were rescued before the rebels could cross the border with them.
However, the rebel command said the decision to release the Germans was solely taken by the rebels, Firat reported.
The PKK uses strongholds in northern Iraq to wage cross-border raids. Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected rebel positions in northern Iraq and earlier this year also launched a weeklong ground offensive into Iraq to fight the rebels.
