A British tourist allegedly kidnapped by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from a Turkish highway in the south-eastern province of Diyarbakir has been released unharmed, provincial Governor Mustafa Toprak said on Monday.
He said the 35-year-old unnamed tourist had been taken to a gendarmerie post in the Genç district of Bingöl late on Sunday.
Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the abduction and the subsequent release of the man, but did not provide his name. However, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, citing police, identified him as James Masami Miyazaki-Ross.
According to Turkish media, a group of PKK terrorists reportedly blocked a road leading to the Diyarbakir-Bingöl Highway and kidnapped the tourist from a bus while he was on his way to Trabzon from Diyarbakir.
Of late, the PKK has stepped up its campaign of kidnapping civilians, with dozens having been abducted by the group in the past few weeks.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU, NATO and the United States, has been waging a bloody war in Turkey's Southeast since 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The organization is based in northern Iraq and launches attacks on Turkey from its hideouts in the mountainous region spanning the Iraq-Turkey border.
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