Ozyildiz Says Families of Abducted Pilgrims 'Crossed Limits'

Turkish Ambassador Inan Ozyildiz slammed on Friday the sit-ins held by the relatives of the nine abducted pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz since May last year.

The diplomat considered in comments published in An Nahar newspaper that the families of the abducted men “crossed the limits.”

Ozyildiz held talks on Thursday with caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour at the Bustros Palace.

Mansour told reporters after the meeting that he called on the Turkish authorities to exert efforts to wrap up the case.

The families of the pilgrims threatened on Thursday to obstruct the interests of the Lebanese state for preventing them from protesting and block Turkish interest in the country.

However, they decided to suspend their sit-ins after General Security Cheif Abbas Ibrahim informed them of positive developments in the case.

The protesters argue that Turkey, which is a staunch supporter of the rebels seeking to topple the Syrian regime, should pressure the kidnappers to release the men.

Eleven men were kidnapped in May 2012 in northern Syria's Aleppo province as they returned by land from a pilgrimage in Iran. Two of them were released in August and September.

They were later taken to the Aleppo town of Aazaz.

The kidnapping was claimed by a man who identified himself as Abu Ibrahim and says he is a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army, but the opposition group denies any involvement in the abductions.

The families have been holding sit-ins near the Turkish airlines and the Turkish cultural center near al-Azarieh building in downtown Beirut for the past two months.