Some 49 hostages held by ISIS/ISIL militants since June were released early Saturday to Turkish officials and taken to freedom at Sanilurfa on the Turkish side of the Syrian border.

Fast-breaking events found 46 Turkish hostages including diplomats and families and three from other nations released around 5 .a.m., according to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaking to the official Anadolu news agency. The "happy development" made for a beautiful morning, he said.

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Former hostages were flown from Sanilurfa to Turkey's capital at Ankara where they were greeted by enthusiastic, flag-waving crowds. Anadolu said no ransom was paid and hostages were released without any conditions. However, the news agency didn't cite sources for that report. Davutoglu said the Turkish intelligence agency used its "own methods" over the last several days to secure the release.

The hostages were captured at the Turkish Consulate by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, three months ago when they marched into Mosul and took that northern Iraq city of nearly 2 million people. Militants previously had said they would attack Turkey if that nation tried military means to free the hostages, so it wasn't immediately clear what took place to gain their release.

A member of NATO, Turkey had been pressed by the United States and allies to take an active role in defeating the radical militants. Forty nations had signed on to the U.S.-led coalition to defeat the militants. Secretary of State John Kerry even went to Turkey last week to try to convince the Turkish regime to join the effort.

Turkey refused to join the anti-ISIS/ISIL effort citing the hostage holding as a deterrent. Officials said they would only provide humanitarian aid because their hands were tied by the hostages.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the hostage release would result in Turkish military intervention along with the coalition. U.S. officials had sought permission to launch airstrikes from southern Turkish air bases against the militants in Iraq and Syria.

TagsISIL, ISIS, hostages, Turkey, NATO, John Kerry, iraq wae, syria war