The Turkish government has negotiated the release of 49 hostages held by ISIL for multiple months. However, the circumstances around their release remain vague as the Turkish government did not pay a ransom or send a special operations team to rescue them.

On June 11, ISIL forces took over the city of Mosul and among those trapped inside the city were members of the Turkish diplomatic delegation, including Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz and the soldiers defending the building, according to the Telegraph.

The rescue happened on Saturday when the Turkish government managed to negotiate with the Islamic extremists for their release. The 49 hostages, who included two small children, were handed over near the border town of Kobani. The hostages were then moved to city of Sanliurfa by bus.

The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, left Azerbaijan, where he was conducting an official visit, and arrived in Sanliurfa to meet with the freed hostages. He flew with them to the Turkish capital of Ankara.

"I thank the prime minister and his colleagues for the preplanned, carefully calculated and secretly conducted operation throughout the night," President Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

"MIT [the Turkish intelligence agency] has followed the situation very sensitively and patiently since the beginning and, as a result, conducted a successful rescue operation."

However, some are wary of how Turkey managed to retrieve the hostages without acquiescing to any demands.

Turkey has not been forthcoming as to how it managed the release of the hostages and the use of the intelligence service rather than a special operations team raised questions.

"There are things we cannot talk about. To run the state is not like running a grocery store. We have to protect sensitive issues, if you don't there would be a price to pay," President Erdogan said.

Turkey is an American ally in the region that has not signed on to the allegiance to defeat ISIL. The leader of the opposition party has condemned the action, expressing concern over what deal was struck to save the people, reports The Associated Press.

"What went on behind the scenes during the negotiations certainly won't remain a secret," said Devlet Bahceli, the opposition party leader.