This morning Spanish police raided the hotel in Granada, where author and human rights activist Doğan Akhanlı had checked in, and took him into custody. Spanish authorities stated that the Akhanlı, who is a German citizen and living in the German city Cologne for 25 years, was sought by Interpol under issue of a red notice.

Speaking to Spiegel Online, Doğan Akhanlı's lawyer Ilias Uyar described the arrest abroad of those critical of the Turkish regime as an “incredible” act that reveals Erdoğan’s efforts to export his authorities over the borders of his country.

Akhanlı, a member of the PEN International, had been arrested in Turkey during a visit in 2010, and remained in jail for two years.

Akhanlı was facing an ‘aggravated life sentence’ in a case opened against him in 2013 for alleged involvement in robbery of an exchange bureau in 1989 in which one person had died.