Swedish-Turkish writer Hamza Yalçın, 59, was arrested in Spain, after Turkey accused him of plotting terror acts against the country. Yalçın is said to have been stopped in a passport control on Thursday when leaving Barcelona to travel to London. He was arrested in response to an Interpol warrant issued by Turkey, said his partner.
Barcelona National Police spokesman Jose Antonio Nin said Tuesday Hamza Yalçın was detained at Barcelona airport Aug. 3 and is now being held pending an extradition hearing. He said Yalçın has been handed over to National Court authorities, according to AP.
Yalçın, who lives in south-western Sweden and is a dual citizen of Sweden and Turkey, has worked as teacher and editor-in-chief of leftist magazine Odak Dergisi, and has been involved in Amnesty and Författarförbundet, a Swedish organization for authors.
According to pro-government Turkish daily Sabah, he is accused of "plotting terrorist acts at Odak Dergisi magazine".
Swedish Foreign Ministry is working to clarify the reasons behind the detention of two of its citizens upon Turkey’s request, Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said. "Swedish Foreign Ministry requested a meeting with the Swedish citizen arrested in Barcelona in Spain. He was detained on the basis of an international order issued by Turkey. The Foreign Ministry assisted in granting him a lawyer, and is working to find out the nature of the charges," Wallstom said, as quoted in a statement for the media released by the ministry.
"The developments in Turkey are a reason for serious concern. And the negative trend that we have been seeing for several years has increased recently. Sweden is continuously working to strengthen the respect for human rights in Turkey," Wallstrom stressed.
Jonathan Lundqvist, head of the Swedish branch of Reporters Without Borders said the arrest was an attempt by Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdoğan to show "he can reach critical voices even if they are not in the country."
Yalçın has reportedly been living in Sweden for the past 30 years.
In early July, Swedish activist Ali Gharavi was arrested in Turkey among six activists, including Amnesty International's Turkey director İdil Eser and German human rights activist Peter Steudtner.
