Turkey: Merkel’s Interpol remarks 'unacceptable'

By Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent remarks accusing Turkey of misusing Interpol procedures are “unacceptable”, the country’s interior ministry said on Tuesday.

Merkel had criticized Turkey over its use of an Interpol arrest warrant to seek the detention of Erdogan Akhanli, sought for alleged links to the leftist DHKP-C terrorist group.

The German leader said international organizations like Interpol must not be misused.

Akhanli, who has been wanted under a “red notice” since November 2013, was stopped in Spain upon the Turkish warrant but was released on Sunday.

“It is meaningful that the developments -- which resulted in the release of Akhanli -- came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s statement,” the interior ministry statement read.

“It is unacceptable, particularly the German Chancellor’s accusations [about] Interpol channels being misused by our country,” it added.

According to the ministry, Akhanli was wanted on charges of killing the owner of an exchange office in Istanbul’s Tahtakale district and of conducting an armed robbery on behalf of a terror organization.

The statement also noted that suspending a “red notice” by disregarding the organization’s own rules had left “trustworthiness” and “transparency” open to question.