BEIRUT (AA) - September 12, 2012 - Lebanese Minister of Interior Marwan Charbel on Wednesday said that they were happy to see the release of Turkish businessman Aydin Tufan Tekin who was abducted by the Miqdad tribe in Lebanon in mid-August.
Speaking to the Anadolu Agency (AA) aboard a plane that brought Tekin to Turkey on Wednesday morning, Charbel stated that "Turkey and Lebanon made great efforts so the Syrian and Turkish hostages could be rescued. We do hope to rescue a second (Turkish) hostage soon".
"The Lebanese army had been conducting operations in Beirut for the past two days. As a result, the Lebanese army and the Miqdad tribe reached a consensus for the release of Tekin," Charbel underlined.
"The other Turkish citizen who was abducted speaks Arabic well. We hope to rescue him soon," Charbel noted.
"Tekin is a son who is loved much by his family. His family is waiting for him impatiently. The Director General of the Lebanese Police, General Abbas Ibrahim was the person who worked on Tekin's case most. Ibrahim worked hard for the Syrian and Turkish hostages. We are pleased with the result," Charbel underlined.
-Ambassador Ozyildiz: "Tufan was in a good spirit emotionally and physically"-
Speaking to the AA, the Turkish Ambassador in Beirut, Inan Ozyildiz said that they were pleased to rescue Tekin in a healthy fashion after great efforts.
"We were pleased with Tekin's release and to see that he was in good spirit emotionally and physically. We were happy to see Tekin flying back home in a plane made available by the Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati," Ozyildiz noted.
"Since the beginning of the incident, Lebanon and Turkey made great efforts to rescue the hostages. Such works were conducted based on successful relations between Lebanon and Turkey. At this stage, we offer our gratitude to Lebanese officials, the President, Parliament Speaker, Prime Minister and Interior Minister," Ozyildiz indicated.
"We are now working to rescue a second Turkish citizen. Lebanese officials believe that we will achieve a result on the second Turk in about a week," Ozyildiz stated.
"There is no security threat in Lebanon. We have no problem in Lebanon associated with the security of our lives. God willing, our Lebanese brothers and sisters will return from Syria safely and the problems would be left in the past by opening a new page in our relations," Ozyildiz also said.
