PKK kidnaps 3 German mountaineers in Ağrı

Three members of a 13-person mountaineering team were kidnapped late Tuesday by five PKK terrorists from a camp on Mt. Agri (Ararat) at an elevation of 3,200 meters. The terrorists reportedly said that the kidnapping was in response to recent action taken by the German government against PKK sympathizers and associations linked to the group. Agri Governor Mehmet Cetin said that the gendarmerie had launched a sweeping search and rescue operation, and that the other mountaineers had been safely brought to the town of Dogubayazit.