Released Turkish hostages join families in Ankara

Forty six Turkish hostages released by the Islamic State (IS) militant group returned to the Turkish capital of Ankara by the special plane of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and were reunited with their families at Ankara Esenboga Airport Saturday.

"First of all, I thank my brother, Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz. They waited patiently, proudly," Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu said addressing crowds at Ankara airport, Xinhua reported.

Freed Turkey Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz said in his statement that he never felt sorry during 101 days of abduction. "We never lost our hopes. There is no pain one cannot stand for his nation. I will always carry this proudly," said Yilmaz.

The 46 Turkish citizens and three Iraqi citizens, who were held hostage by the IS militants, were kidnapped in Iraq but delivered in Syria. IS militants changed eight places while holding the hostages.

Over 1,000 people, including the families of the freed hostages, gathered at the airport to cheer their release.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that the hostages' freedom was the result of a successful "operation".

"I thank the prime minister and his colleagues for this carefully planned, detailed and secret operation, which continued all night and successfully completed early morning," said the statement released by the presidential press office.

"Our National Intelligence Agency has followed the issue with patience and dedication and finally performed a successful rescue operation," the statement added.

Davutoglu cut short his Azerbaijan visit and met the released Turkish hostages in southern Sanliurfa province bordering Syria.

A group of IS armed attackers took control of the Turkish consulate in Mosul in Iraq June 11, and abducted 49 staff, including Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, and their family members and three Iraqi citizens.