Last Sept. 20, Turkey woke up to surprising news: Early in the morning, the 49 hostages held by the Islamic State (IS) since the day it captured Mosul on June 10 were released. The first public reaction was naturally of joy and great relief. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cut short his official visit to Baku and flew to Urfa to meet with the released hostages and fly with them to Ankara.

The drama of the hostage issue instantly transformed into a vigorous public relations campaign on the success of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule and the Davutoglu government in Turkey. But that did not pre-empt the question in public opinion: What was the deal behind all this? What is the behind-the-curtain story of the hostage release?

The question received an implicit response from Erdogan, who confirmed that there was a “political and diplomatic deal.” On the way to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, he confirmed that a deal was made with IS.

“Of course there will be claims of exchanges, etc.,” he said. “Whether there was an exchange or not, our 49 citizens are safely back. … Let’s assume there was an exchange. As a president, what I care [about] is that our 49 citizens are back home with their families.”