Turkish media are reporting that today the Syrian Government is releasing 2,130 people it has been holding, including foreigners (reportedly a significant number of them are Turkish citizens), in exchange for rebel forces releasing, also today, 48 Iranians they have been holding.
There have been, and are now, many additional efforts being made by various Turkish individuals and groups for the release of people being held in Syria by both sides of the conflict.
This is the largest release so far. It is being reported that the governments of Turkey, Qatar and Iran acted as intermediaries and that and the Turkish humanitarian aid organization IHH has been one of the major parties involved in the negotiations for this release.
There is no word yet as to whether or not Austin Tice, the American journalist who has been missing in Syria for five months, is one of those being released, but I think he is not. It is still not clear as to who he is being held by even though his family believes he is being held by the Syrian government.
I will try to collect more information and write about this in more detail later today.
Update 16:00 Local Time in Turkey - There are now reports that the 48 Iranians have been released and that so far four Turks have been released. The reports also state that the releases are continuing and taking place in several locations around Syria.
There are also reports of a great deal of speculation that the four Turks who have been released so far are the four Turkish pilots who were reportedly captured by Syrian government forces late last month while trying to infiltrate a Syrian air base. The Turkish military has officially stated that no Turkish military pilots have been sent to or captured in Syria.
The Turkish Government has refrained from commenting on today's events other than to say that they are 'commendable developments'.
I have found only one English language article about this so far.
From the above article:
A massive prisoner exchange is underway between Syrian officials and Syrian rebels in several cities across the crisis-hit nation, including Damascus, Latakia, Homs, Idlib and Aleppo.
Some 2,130 Syrian civilians will be released by Damascus in exchange for the return of 48 Iranians currently held by Syrian rebels. Among the 2,130 civilians held captive by the Syrian regime there are at least four Turkish citizens, head of the Turkish non-governmental organization (NGO) Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) Bülent Yıldırım told the Hürriyet Daily News. Yıldırım is overseeing the exchange in Damascus.
The release of captives is being conducted in a building of the Syrian Interior Ministry with a senior Syrian general directing the process, Yıldırım said. While it is known that there are at least four Turkish citizens among the captives the number could increase, according to Yıldırım.
...
Freed civilians are being given travel expenses to assist them in leaving the cities where they were being detained.
Update 18:45 Local Time in Turkey - It is now being reported that all 2,178 people have been released, but not many details are being provided.
Some of those released are reported to be thin and some ill, and the 48 Iranians have been transported to the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
Included in the coverage today there has also been quite a lot of reporting about Bashar Fahmi Al-Kadumi, a journalist for Al-Hurra (a US Government funded Arabic language news organization), who is a Palestinian with Jordanian citizenship and who disappeared on August 20, 2012 in Aleppo. He is believed to be being held by the Syrian government. It seems that a lot of effort is being made for his release and that there was some hope that he would be one of those released today.
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Note: I usually don't use 'BREAKING' but feel that it was justified for this post.