ANKARA - "Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)" was behind abduction of Turkish engineers in Nigeria, moreover, they called both the Turkish Embassy in capital Abuja and the engineers' company Merpa, a communications firm, sources said today.
Representatives of MEND, which kidnapped Turkish engineers Ilker Izci and Murat Orhan last Friday at Nigeria's well-known petroleum area of Port Harcourt, called Turkish officials on Sunday and stated that they were ready to negotiate for ransom.
Although there were not any concrete developments regarding the matter yet, sources said that negotiations with kidnappers still continued in collaboration with the Nigerian police.
According to sources, such kind of incidents happen frequently in the region and the engineers might have been kidnapped as they are foreigners.
While Ankara follows the latest developments closely, a representative from the engineers' company Merpa is expected to depart for Nigeria soon.