Edip Daniel Savci, a priest from Turkey’s Assyrian Christian community, was abducted yesterday in Turkey's southeastern city of Mardin. The kidnappers called Yohanna Aktas, the Head of the Assyrian Culture Association and demanded 300,000 Euro in return for Savci’s release. According to Anto Nuay, a clergyman, the kidnappers said on a second call that they would kill the priest if they were not given the money.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay said that the national police and the gendarmerie in the region were following the case.
It is reported that the abductors may have crossed the border into Syria together with their hostage.
Source: Hurriyet, Zaman, Turkey, November 29, 2007
