(MENAFN- Arab News) BAGHDAD/ANKARA: Gunmen in military uniform seized 18 Turkish workers from a sports stadium they were building in northeastern Baghdad on Wednesday their company said in what Ankara said appeared to have been a targeted attack.
Diplomats have said Turkey could suffer reprisals after abandoning months of reticence to launch airstrikes against Daesh in neighboring Syria and open its bases to a US-led coalition fighting the Sunni militants.
The workers were taken in the predominantly Shiite district of Habibiya Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said investigators in both countries were cooperating.
'People dressed in military uniforms broke down the door at 3 a.m. (midnight GMT) and abducted all these people' said Ugur Dogan chief executive of Nurol Holding which owns the construction firm.
Two police sources said the gunmen had arrived in a convoy of black sports utility vehicles. Maan denied reports that up to three Iraqis had also been abducted and put the number of people kidnapped at 16.
A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkish nationals had been specifically picked out by the attackers without giving further details.
A Daesh video released last month accused Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of 'selling the country to crusaders' and of allowing US access to Turkish bases 'just to keep his post.'