Ankara, Turkey - A priest from the ancient Syriac Christian community was released Friday in southeastern Turkey, two days after he was kidnapped by unidentified assailants, a senior local official said.
Edip Daniel Savci was set free in Batman, the main city of the province bearing the same name, Mehmet Kılıçlar, governor of neighbouring Mardin province from where the priest hailed, told the Anatolia news agency.
"Our security forces will make contact with him soon," Kılıçlar added.
Authorities launched a search for Savci when his car was found abandoned on a road near Midyat, in Mardin, and a local clergyman received a 300,000-euro (444,000-dollar) ransom demand for the priest.
The Syriac Orthodox community is one of the world's oldest Christian denominations, whose original congregations also settled into what is today Iraq, Syria and the Lebanon.
There are about 25,000 community members in Turkey, concentrated mainly in Mardin in the southeast, and in Istanbul.
Christians in Turkey were the victim of two recent attacks. An Italian Roman Catholic priest was shot dead last year and three Protestants -- a German missionary and two Turkish converts -- had their throats slit in April.