The Assyrian Democratic Organization
Midyat(Turkey) – Hurriyet — Police have arrested five suspects in the abduction of Syriac orthodox priest Edip Daniel Savcý.
Abdurrahman Oral, Mehmet Emin Oral, Þefik Oral, Halil Esen and Zeynel Karaman have all been taken into police custody. Police are still seeking two suspects. The suspects belong to a cigarette-smuggling and racketeering gang lead by Abdurrahman Oral, police say.
Priest Edip Daniel Savcý, who runs the Mor Yakup Monastery in Midyat, Mardin province, described his abduction in the following way:
“I went to Midyat to go shopping. On my return, a vehicle coming from the opposite direction blocked the road. As the people in the car were getting out, another car approached mine from behind. When they too got out of the car, I realised they had bad intentions. They wanted me to go with them. When I struggled against them, they punched me. Some of them were armed. I was so frightened I got into their car. We were a total of 5 in the car now. They drove me around until midnight.
At one point I was taken out of the car and put in a minibus. Then they took me to a house, and hid me in the stables. On watching the news of my abduction, one of them said, “The situation is bad”. Four of them argued over letting me go. They were repentant. The following day, the owner of the house saw a photograph of me on television and realised I had been abducted. That man and a youth released me when the other two were not around.”
After being released, Priest Savcý was greeted by both Syriac Christians and Muslims with cheerful drum and horn music.
