(Updates souring, adds details, background)
ANKARA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped
by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea have been freed in
Nigeria and will head home, a shipping company executive said on
Friday, two weeks after the attackers made contact to discuss a
ransom.
One sailor, a citizen of Azerbaijan, was killed in the raid
on Jan. 23 which crew, family members and security sources
described as a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack. Those
kidnapped were from Turkey. Speaking to state TV broadcaster TRT Haber, Levent Karsan
from Istanbul-based Boden Shipping said the sailors were all in
good health in Nigeria and would be brought to Turkey in the
coming days.
"This wasn't a political kidnapping. This kind of kidnapping
happens in that region unfortunately and is completely aimed at
getting ransom," Karsan said. Talks to free the sailors had been
handled by a team based in Hamburg, he added.
The Liberian-flagged container ship, the Mozart, was headed
to Cape Town from Lagos when it was attacked 160 km (100 miles)
off Sao Tome island, maritime reports showed. The pirates made
first contact with Boden on Jan. 28 to discuss ransom.
Karsan did not share details of the talks but said he hoped
the incident would prompt officials at the United Nations and
International Maritime Organisation to take action against
piracy in the region.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu later said that a
British company had handled negotiations, but gave no details.
He also told TRT Haber a team had been sent to countries in the
region to discuss preventing such incidents.
"We must learn a lesson from this and work together to make
sure this doesn't happen again," Cavusoglu said on TRT.