Dozens of Turkish nationals held hostage for more than three months in northern Iraq have been released.
The so-called Islamist militants released them and they returned to Turkey this morning.
IS jihadists kidnapped 49 Turks including diplomats, children and special forces from the Turkish consulate in Mosul on 11 June as they captured swathes of northern Iraq.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the release of the hostages was part of a "pre-planned operation" by Turkish intelligence.
Turkish broadcaster NTV is also claiming that Turkey did not pay a ransom for the hostages.
The broadcaster said that there were no clashes with IS insurgents during the operation to release them.
Turkey, a NATO member and the United State's key ally in the region, has been reluctant to take part in combat operations against so-called IS militants.
Turkey would not allow a US-led coalition to use its airbases for strikes against the jihadists, citing its concern over for the safety of the hostages.
Iran has a role to play - Kerry
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that Iran has a role to play in tackling of so-called IS militants who have overrun much of Syria and Iraq.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed this week that he had rejected a request from the US for cooperation on the battlefield.
But Kerry said that in combating the jihadist threat "there is a role for nearly every country to play, including Iran."
Tehran is supporting both Iraq and Syria in its battle against IS jihadists.
18 IS fighters killed in northern Syria
Meanwhile, at least 18 Islamic State fighters were killed with overnight clashes with Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The monitoring group said the 18 militants, including one reportedly of Chinese nationality, were killed in fighting near the town of Ain al-Arab, known to the Kurds as Kobane.
The Observatory said yesterday that IS fighters had seized 60 Kurdish villages near the Turkish border in a lightning two-day campaign as they close in on Ain al-Arab.
The town in Aleppo province is Syria's third largest Kurdish town, and would give IS control of a long stretch of the country's northern border with Turkey.
The fighting in the area has prompted an exodus of residents, many of whom have sought to cross into Turkey, which opened its border on Friday.
Turkish deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said 45,000 Syrian Kurds have entered Turkey over the past 24 hours through eight entry points along a 30km stretch of border.
More than 300 Kurdish fighters have also crossed into Syria from Turkey in an effort to push back the IS advance.
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