Spain releases German-Turkish writer sought by Ankara

Agence France Presse
 Sunday 1:17 PM GMT


Spain releases German-Turkish writer sought by Ankara

 Berlin, Aug 20 2017

A Spanish court on Sunday ordered the conditional release of
German-Turkish writer Dogan Akhanli a day after police had arrested
him at Ankara's request, his lawyer said.

Berlin -- which sees Turkey's bid to have the writer extradited as a
politically-motivated move by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- hailed
the Spanish court's decision.

"It would be terrible if, even on the other side of Europe, Turkey
succeeded in having people who raise their voices against President
Erdogan arrested," said German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

Gabriel, who had discussed the case with his Spanish counterpart
Alfonso Dastis on Saturday, said he had "the utmost confidence" in the
Spanish judiciary and that the government in Madrid "knows what this
is about".

Spanish police had on Saturday arrested Akhanli, who writes about
Turkey's human rights record, while he was on holiday in Granada after
receiving a so-called Interpol red notice, which is similar to an
international arrest warrant.

Berlin quickly urged Madrid not to extradite Cologne-based Akhanli,
who has previously been jailed in Turkey and was granted political
asylum and citizenship in Germany.

Writing on Facebook, Akhanli's lawyer Ilias Uyar said his client was
"being released from detention on condition he stays in Madrid" while
Turkey starts the process of formally requesting his extradition.

"The battle was worth it," the lawer wrote.

- Critical voice -

The case comes as relations between Turkey and Germany, home to three
million ethnic Turks, have been badly strained, particularly in the
wake of the failed coup against Erdogan a year ago and a subsequent
crackdown on alleged plotters and enemies.

Gabriel last month vowed stinging measures hitting tourism and
investment in Turkey and a full "overhaul" of troubled relations,
accusing Erdogan of trying to muzzle "every critical voice" with mass
arrests and sackings.

On Saturday, Erdogan hit out at Gabriel, saying "know your limits"
after the minister vehemently criticised the Turkish leader for
interfering in Germany's upcoming elections.

Turkey is holding several German citizens in custody, including
Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yucel, the Istanbul correspondent of
the Die Welt newspaper, who faces trial on terror charges.

Germany wants to prevent Akhanli from ending up behind bars in Turkey,
where he was jailed from 1985 to 1987 before moving to Cologne in the
1990s and becoming a German citizen in 2001.

- The Armenian question -

Akhanli has written about the highly sensitive historical question of
the mass killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Turkish empire.

Half a million to 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and
1917, in a bloodletting that Armenia and Western historians describe
as genocide.

Turkey vehemently objects to the term, saying that 300,000 to 500,000
Armenians and as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose
up and sided with invading Russian troops.

Akhanli was arrested again in 2010 when he arrived at Istanbul airport
for a visit, on charges he was allegedly involved in a 1989 armed
robbery.

He was released four months later after being declared innocent,
before an appeals court ordered new proceedings against him.

German Green MPs have taken up his cause, saying he is a victim of
political persecution.