I don`t see a role for NATO in Iraq, but of course we will follow the situation closely and urge all parties involved to stop the violence.Ankara (ANTARA News) - NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, will visit Turkey on Monday for talks on dozens of Turkish nationals taken as hostages in Iraq, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"We urge the hostage takers to release the hostages immediately. Nothing can justify this criminal act," Rasmussen said at a conference in Madrid earlier on Thursday.
"I dont see a role for NATO in Iraq, but of course we will follow the situation closely and urge all parties involved to stop the violence," he added.
During his visit to Ankara on Monday, Rasmussen will meet both President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the hostage issue, the ministry said.
On Wednesday, a group of armed militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) took control of the Turkish consulate in Mosul in northern Iraq and kidnapped 49 Turkish citizens, including diplomats, soldiers and children.
ISIL has also taken 31 Turkish nationals as hostages at a power plant in the Gyarah region of Mosul.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, ISIL seized Mosul and Tikrit, another provincial capital, in its renewed clashes with Iraqi government forces.
Besides the hostage issue, Rasmussens will also discuss preparations for the run-up to NATOs upcoming summit in Wales in early September.
(C003)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
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