"(Turkish) Foreign Minister Ali Babacan called his opposite number in Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to tell him that the three German citizens are now in the hands of Turkish forces and are in good health," said spokesman Burak Ozugergin.

Separatist rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) seized Helmut Johann, Martin Georpe and Lars Holper Reime on July 8 while they were on a climbing expedition at Mount Ararat in Turkey's Agri province.

Agri Governor Mehmet Cetin told reporters that the rebels "were forced to release the hostages because the army operations aimed at freeing them were tightening their grip."

They were released on a mountain in the region and were picked up 30 minutes later by police, he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during an interview on the ARD television channel that said she was "relieved" the hostages were freed and thanked the German and Turkish authorities.

Speaking in Berlin, Steinmeier also said he felt "great relief" that the men had been freed and were now "entrusted to the Turkish and German authorities."

A PKK spokesman in Iraq, where many of the Kurdish separatists are based, confirmed the release which he said took place at 2:00 pm (1100 GMT).

"They were in good health," the spokesman, Ahmed Danees, told AFP. "They were released in the Sarhad region from where they had been arrested. They were handed over to a human rights group."

The hostages underwent a medical examination before being handed over to German officials who had arrived in Agri.

The rebels had originally said they would hold the hostages until Berlin ended its crackdown on PKK supporters in Germany, which is home to about 2.4 million immigrants from Turkey, including about 600,000 Kurds.

Merkel made a personal appeal for the release of the Germans, but Steinmeier at the time rejected the demands for a change in policy in return for their freedom.

Situated at the border with Iran and Armenia, Mount Ararat is Turkey's highest mountain, at 5,137 metres (16,850 feet) and, according to Biblical tradition, once held Noah's ark.

Listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, the PKK has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority east and southeast since 1984.

Fighting between the rebel and army camps occurs nearly every day, with another two PKK members killed on Sunday, according to the army chief of staff's website.

The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives, but the rebel group's attacks in the past 10 years have usually targeted security forces rather than civilians.

Although the PKK has in the past kidnapped soldiers, police and Turkish journalists, hostage-taking of tourists is rare.