MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) — Turkish intelligence is "well aware" of the whereabouts of all its foreign citizens detained by Syrian extremists, Grand Mufti of Syria Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun said at a Thursday press conference held at news agency Rossiya Segodnya.
Answering a question asking if he had any information on the location of Russian citizen Sergei Gorbunov, reportedly seized and executed by Islamic State (IS) extremists, Hassoun recommended addressing the Turkish government with this issue.
"They are in touch with the Islamic State and other groups, they could figure it out. I reach out to them when I need to find out where our kidnapped clerics are," Hassoun said.
"The Syrian government has nothing to do with it. Russia could directly ask Turkey where is this man. Turkish intelligence knows it," he stressed.
The grand mufti continued that the notorious executions of US citizens by the IS were carried out with Ankara's knowledge. He argued that Turkey had evacuated dozens of its own citizens from the areas controlled by the extremists.
On Sunday, US media reported that Russian engineer Sergei Gorbunov was shot to death in spring. The last available video of him was dated October 2013, when an appeal for his freedom was recorded by the IS fighters who captured him.
Earlier, the group had also uploaded on YouTube the videos showing the beheadings of US and UK citizens. In addition, Algerian militants linked to the IS filmed the execution of a French national over Paris' support for the US-led anti-IS airstrikes.
