Doğan Akhanlı

German citizen Mehmet Y. was detained in the Bulgarian city of Varna late on Tuesday at the behest of the Turkish government.

The German Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrest and said the embassy in Sofia was providing the man with consular service.

In the latest episode in the diplomatic skirmish between Germany and Turkey, the police in Spain, acting on a request from the Turkish authorities, have arrested a Turkish-German writer on vacation in Spain.

The EU should change its Turkey strategy as it can longer "shrug" at Ankara's behavior, European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn told Süddeutsche Zeitung in an interview published late on Aug. 21. 

European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn said any involvement on the part of Turkey in domestic elections in an EU member-state was unacceptable. Mr. Hahn warned Turkey that its actions put the country’s prospects of joining the EU at risk in an interview to newspaper “Suddeutsche Zeitung”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed the release of a German writer detained in Spain on a Turkish warrant and criticized Turkey for "abusing" Interpol.

Doğan Akhanlı, who writes about Turkey's human rights record, was detained on Aug. 19 while on holiday in Granada on an Interpol red notice, similar to an international arrest warrant, from Ankara.

 German-Turkish author Dogan Akhanli was arrested in Spain on Saturday after Turkey issued an Interpol warrant for the writer, a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, fanning an already fierce row between the NATO allies, reported Reuters.

A Spanish court on Aug. 20 granted conditional release from custody to German-Turkish writer Doğan Akhanlı a day after police detained him over Ankara's request, his lawyer has said.
  

German-Turkish author Doğan Akhanlı was detained in Spain on Aug. 19 after Turkey issued an Interpol warrant for the writer, Der Spiegel magazine reported. Spanish police detained Akhanlı on Aug.