15 Turkish citizens were kidnapped as a result of a piracy attack on the Mozart ship in the Gulf of Guinea on 23 January 2021, and one Azerbaijani brother lost his life during the attack.

Just after the incident our President personally followed the process and instructed to form a working group for the rescue of our citizens with the participation of all relevant institutions.

In this regard, all our relevant institutions started to work in coordination with our Embassies in the region, and a delegation of our relevant institutions led by our Ministry went to Gabon on 6 February 2021 and began their contacts.

In coordination with the shipowner company’s efforts, a team from our National Intelligence Organisation was also assigned in the field, and with their assistance, developments were followed instantly.

Since the beginning of this week, significant progress has been achieved as a result of the effective coordination and cooperation of all our institutions and the intense efforts of the shipowner company to release our citizens.

Intense efforts both in the field and in Turkey resulted in safe rescue of our citizens as of today.

Our citizens are at a safe point and their health checks are being carried out.

Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu has spoken with the families of all our citizens.

Our citizens will be transferred from Nigeria to our country as soon as possible.