Iraqi politician: Tsurkov’s release is a courageous message from al-Sudani to normalize relations with Israel
Iraqi politician: Tsurkov’s release is a courageous message from al-Sudani to normalize relations with Israel
2025-09-14 02:25
Shafaq News – Erbil
Iraqi politician Mithal al-Alusi on Sunday hailed the release of Israeli-Russian hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov as a “courageous message” from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani toward normalization between Iraq and Israel.
Al-Alusi wrote in a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), addressing Al-Sudani, saying, “Your announcement of the release of Israeli citizen Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was being held by entities within your ruling framework… is a courageous message of normalization between Iraq and Israel.”
He also said that this move “was well received by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
On Tuesday evening, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and US President Donald Trump announced the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian hostage held by Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, nearly two years after her abduction in the capital, Baghdad.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed his gratitude to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for his role in freeing the kidnapped Tsurkov.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the release of hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov in a post on Twitter, saying that she was “an Israeli citizen who was kidnapped in Iraq in March 2023.”
Tsurkov had traveled to Iraq as part of her doctoral research at Princeton University.
In Baghdad, Tsurkov focused her research on pro-Iranian factions and the Sadrist movement led by Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, according to several journalists who met her.
Tsurkov says on her personal website that she speaks English, Hebrew, Russian, and Arabic.
In early July 2023, Israel announced that Tzurkov had been kidnapped in Iraq.
However, this Israeli confirmation came several months after the kidnapping of the young woman, who is believed to have entered Iraq on a Russian passport before being abducted in the Iraqi capital at the end of March 2023.
In early July 2023, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that “Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian citizen who disappeared a few months ago in Iraq, is being held by the Shiite Kata’ib Hezbollah militia.”
shafaq.com
