Turkish policeman kidnapped by PKK returns to Turkey

ANKARA, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A Turkish policeman abducted by the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) more than three months ago returned to Turkey from northern Iraq on Friday following his release earlier in the day, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Officials from the Human Rights Association (IHD) and father oft he kidnapped Hakan Acil received him from the PKK militants o nFriday and then brought him to Turkish town of Silopi in eastern Sirnak province through Habur border gate, the report said.It added that Silopi Prosecutor's Office has taken the testimony of Acil.

Kurdish rebels kidnapped Acil on Oct. 9 after stopping his carat a roadblock near southeastern Turkish town of Midyat, located at the junction of the Syrian and Iraqi borders, leaving his fiancee alone in the car.

Turkish troops had been searching for Acil for months.More than 37,000 people have been killed since the rebel group took up arms against the government for an independent Kurdish homeland in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey in 1984.PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.