Hostage refused to read ISIL message despite gun threat

Il Console turco Ozturk Yilmaz, rapito l'11 giugno a Mosul e liberato da poche ore, ha rifiutato di leggere un messaggio preparato dai suoi rapitori dello Stato Islamico, pur avendo una pistola puntata alla testa...

Turkey's consul-general to Mosul, rescued after 101 days in ISIL captivity, refused to read a message for his captors “despite having a gun put to his head,” another hostage revealed.

Speaking to the media at Ankara’s Esenboga airport following his and the other 45 captives rescue on Saturday, Alptekin Esirgun said: "We knew that we had to stay patiently there. There were times when we faced death but we supported each other."

Esirgun described how Consul-General Ozturk Yilmaz refused to read a message on behalf of Turkey that had been prepared by the terrorists even though he was threatened with a gun.

Paying tribute to Yilmaz, he added: "We managed the process very well. I am thankful to him.”

Yilmaz also spoke to reporters and thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, National Intelligence Organization chief Hakan Fidan and the Turkish military for their efforts.

"All I want to do now is to go home with my family," he said.

Asked if he gave in to despair during his captivity, Yilmaz replied: "A believer never thinks about despair. When you believe, the light of hope never dies."

The consulate staff and their families were abducted on June 11, a day after ISIL took control of Mosul.

Source: aa.com