ANKARA
“During my captivity, I was thinking of how I would be killed. I would rather be shot than be butchered," Turkish photojournalist Bunyamin Aygun on Tuesday told a Foreign Ministry gathering of his ordeal in Syria where he was kidnapped by an al-Qaeda linked group.
“It was difficult,” said Aygun, thanking Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for the Ministry’s successful efforts to free him earlier this month.
Davutoglu met Turkish citizens and their families who were killed, wounded or kidnapped while serving overseas on the second day of a week-long meeting of the 6th annual Turkish Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara.
"Each of you has a different story. Some of you lost your best friends, some were kidnapped. We lost our beloved ones and some had to handle with difficult conditions," Davutoglu said. "The best moments we have are when our citizens who are away from their country return home."
Turkish pilots Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca were kidnapped in Beirut by gunmen who intercepted their bus in August last year and held hostage for more than two months. They were released in October 2013.
Akpinar’s spouse who was present at the meeting said, "When officials rang my door I thought that the plane had crashed. When I learned that my husband had been kidnapped I was relieved because I knew that he was alive."
She thanked Davutoglu saying, "The Turkish government has kept its promise. Turkey would never leave any of its citizens hostage."
Turkish citizen Enver Simsek, the first recorded victim of Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Underground (NSU), was brutally murdered in Germany in 2000.
Andreas Heuler from Germany who rendered first aid to Simsek was also invited to the meeting.
"I had to help Simsek when he was shot. It is a humanitarian duty," Heuler said.
First held in 2008, the Ambassadors' Conference focuses on assessing Turkey's foreign policy and international relations, determining future strategies, and coordinating with agencies and organizations which play a role in the implementation of Turkish foreign policy. It is taking place from January 13 to 19.
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