Iraqi insurgents are holding seven Turks hostage and demanding Turkish companies leave Iraq, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday.
Dubai-based Al Arabiya television aired a videotape showing what it said were four of the seven Turkish hostages. Masked men, armed with automatic rifles, stood behind the hostages.
"It appears seven people have been taken hostage. We don't have any concrete information on their identities," the Turkish official told Reuters.
"They may have been bringing goods and providing logistical support for American companies in Iraq," he said, adding it was unclear when and where the men had been abducted.
The Turkish ambassador in Baghdad and Turkish intelligence services were working for the men's release, the official said.
Arabiya said the insurgents belonged to a group calling itself the Jihad (Holy War) Squadrons. They were demanding Turks protest against the US-led occupation of Iraq.
A statement read by a group member condemned Turkish firms for supporting the US-led occupation, Arabiya said.