Turkish businessman released in Iraq

Kidnappers have released a wealthy Turkish businessman after holding him hostage in Iraq for two months, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said today.

Kahraman Sadikoglu, president of the Istanbul-based Tuzla Shipyard, was released late last night, and flown to Baghdad after spending the evening at a British base in southern Iraq, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said. He was scheduled to return to Turkey later today through Jordan.

The ministry official did not give further details, but newspaper reports said Sadikoglu was released after his family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom.

Sadikoglu was apparently abducted after leaving the southern city of Basra on December 16.

His kidnappers later sent a video to a Turkish media organisation in Iraq in which he appeared alongside a weeping employee, saying they were being treated well by their captors.

In the tape, Sadikoglu said he was working for the United Nations and the Iraqi government on a project clearing harbours of sunken ships.

In his mid-50s, Sadikoglu is well known for salvaging ships around the world and restoring luxury yachts.

He is popular among many Turks for having renovated and rescued the Savarona, a luxury yacht that once belonged to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. The Savarona is listed as one of the world’s largest yachts.