Erdogan: Turkey will cooperate with Japan on hostage crisis

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Turkey would share all its intelligence on two Japanese nationals kidnapped on Monday by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkish presidential sources said Erdogan yesterday telephoned the Japanese premier and assured him that his country was approaching the issue with sensitivity.

Stressing that Turkish citizens have also suffered due to the regional chaos, Erdogan said Ankara is ready to share all its intelligence on the case.

Sources said the leaders discussed bilateral relations and other regional and international issues including Turkey’s G20 Presidency, and the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant which Japan will construct in the Black Sea following an agreement between the two countries.

Earlier in the day, ISIS demanded the Japanese government pay a ransom of $200 million to release two Japanese hostages within 72 hours, threatening to slaughter them if Tokyo did not respond to their demand.

The terrorist group released an online video showing the two Japanese hostages, freelance journalist Kenji Goto and security contractor Haruna Yukawa, kneeling in orange jumpsuits at an undisclosed location.