Body of Azerbaijani sailor airlifted to Turkey

The body of an Azerbaijani crew member killed in a pirate attack on a container ship in the Gulf of Guinea was sent to Azerbaijan earlier on Wednesday after being airlifted to Turkey.

The body had been airlifted from Gabon's capital Libreville to Istanbul and then on to the Azerbaijani capital Baku by a Turkish Airlines plane.

The plane to Azerbaijan took off at 07.30 a.m. local time (0430GMT).

In the pirate attack Saturday, 15 of the cargo ship's 19 crew members were abducted, while an Azerbaijani national was killed.

Following the attack, the Liberian-flagged ship Mozart anchored Sunday at nearby Port-Gentil, Gabon, but with only three of its surviving crew members on board.

Turkey is doing everything it can to get back the 15 kidnapped sailors -- all apparently Turkish nationals -- though the pirates have not made any contact with officials, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Monday.