Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic has confirmed reports that 18 Turkish workers and engineers, working on the enormous sports complex in Sadr City, in north Baghdad, have been kidnapped by masked men overnight. The identities of the workers has not been released for security reasons, but they include 14 workers, three engineers and an accountant.
Bilgic confirmed they are workers with Nurol Insaat, the construction company hired to build the complex, according to the International Business Times. Iraqi officials confirmed that one Iraqi national was also kidnapped.
While the workers were asleep, masked men in military uniforms stormed the compound, disarmed the guards, abducted the men and placed them into a series of SUVs in a very detailed plan. Bilgic said they were specifically targeting Turkish workers, picking them out and leaving behind workers from other nations.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus confirmed the kidnapping and told reporters, "The Iraqi authorities for the time being do not have information on how the incident occurred or who captured them," according to the Huffington Post.
Turkey recently allowed U.S. warplanes to perform airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, as previously reported by HNGN. Those strikes occurred just last month.
There is no known motive for the kidnappings at this time.
