Türkiye announces release of workers held hostage at US factory

Security forces detain suspect, who "wanted to draw attention to the current occupation in Gaza"

MADRID, 2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Turkish authorities announced this Thursday night the release of seven people who had been taken hostage in an American factory in the Turkish city of Gebze, located in the province of Kocaeli (northwest), in protest against the support of the United States. to Israel in the context of the bombings in the Gaza Strip.

"Since negotiations carried out by expert personnel on the ground with the person who took seven company employees hostage, claiming that he wanted to draw attention to the current occupation in Gaza, did not turn out to be positive, our security forces have intervened and neutralized the suspect as a result of the preparations made in advance," reads a statement from the Kocaeli governorate.

Following this action, "the hostages have been safely rescued, the person who committed the act has been arrested and a full-scale investigation into the incident has been launched." Furthermore, the governor, Seddar Yavuz, has traveled to the scene of the incident, where he has met with the mayor of Gebze and the provincial police, who had ordered a strong deployment.

The efforts of the authorities lasted approximately ten hours, as the suspect entered the factory of the Procter company with a weapon.

Several Turkish media have shared an image, not independently verified, in which a middle-aged man covered with a scarf is seen in front of a wall on which a Turkish and a Palestinian flag are painted.

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