Transportation Firms In Turkey: We Can Halt Our Activities In Iraq

MERSIN - Representatives of Oztur and Kahramanli, two Turkish transportation firms in Turkey`s southern province of Mersin, said on Sunday that they could halt their activities in Iraq to secure release of two Turkish drivers who were abducted in Iraq.
Releasing a joint statement, Omer Ozturk and Osman Kahramanli said that they would do everything in their power for release of Abdulrahman Demir and Sait Unurlu.
``We can halt our transportation activities in Iraq. The most important thing now is the return of our drivers to Turkey safely,`` they said.
Oztur and Kahramanli firms deliver goods to U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
The Tawhid and Jihad group of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi demanded the Turkish lorry drivers` employers leave Iraq in a videotape aired Saturday on Al-Jazeera television, which showed three masked, black-garbed gunmen standing behind two seated men holding various forms of identification, including Turkish passports. The militants threatened to behead them within 48 hours.
(UK-MS) 01.08.2004