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The BBC's Mark Lowen says there is "huge relief" in Turkey
Dozens of hostages seized by Islamic State (IS) from the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have been freed and are back in Turkey.
The 49 were taken to the southern Turkish city of Sanliurfa, officials say, and are now in Ankara.
Details are unclear but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it had been a "detailed and secret operation".
The hostages were seized after IS militants overran Mosul in a rapid advance in June.
Turkey has refused direct involvement in the military campaign against IS partly because of fears over the hostages' safety.
The 49 hostages were employees from the consulate - 46 Turks and three local Iraqis - officials said. They included diplomatic staff, children, and special forces police.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the hostages' release as "joyful news".
"In the early hours [of Saturday] our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country," he said.
They were all in good health, he added.
Analysis: Mark Lowen, BBC News, Istanbul
When Turkey said it would not sign up to the military coalition against Islamic State, it was galling for the US. Turkey has the second largest army in Nato and hosts a huge US airbase. The reason was clear: with 49 hostages held by IS in Iraq, there was the fear of retribution if Turkey played too active a role.
Now that the group has been released, will it change Ankara's stance? Unlikely. Turkey was reluctant to get too involved in the fight against IS. It shares long, vulnerable borders with Iraq and Syria, there is some recruitment of militants on its territory and it has large commercial interests in the region, which it fears could be targeted.
Critics say Turkey's decision is because it has supported the militants against Syria's President Assad, something Ankara denies. There is a precedent. In 2003, Turkey also refused the use of its base for the Iraq invasion. This vital western ally is wary of the fights it picks.
Mr Davutoglu flew to Sanliurfa and brought the hostages back to Ankara on his plane.
He did not give details of their release but broadcaster NTV reported that Turkey had not paid a ransom. It did not say how it obtained the information.
More than 30 Turkish lorry drivers, who were also seized in Mosul in June, were freed a month later but details of their release were not made public.
IS has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria. Estimates say the group could have up to 30,000 fighters.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes in Iraq since August. French jets carried out their first strikes on Friday.
Meanwhile, Turkish officials said about 45,000 Syrian Kurds fleeing an advance by IS had crossed a stretch of Turkey's south-west border opened for them on Friday.
Turkish troops had earlier blocked them from crossing, triggering angry protests from Turkish Kurds.
Turkey has been under pressure from Western countries to tighten up its borders with Syria and Iraq and to stem the flow of foreign fighters joining the militants.
More than 847,000 Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkey since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
Iran 'has role'More than 30 nations have joined a US-led coalition to take on IS militants, but Turkey - a Nato member - has said it will only allow humanitarian and logistical operations from a Nato air base on its soil.
Syria and Iran have been excluded from the coalition. However, the US has said Iran still has a role to play.
On Thursday, the US Senate approved Mr Obama's plan to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight IS.
US air strikes are now expected in Syria after the Senate approved President Barack Obama's plan to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels.
However, he has ruled out a ground operation in Iraq or Syria.
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