Turkey accused of using Interpol summit to crack down on critics

Campaigners claim Ankara is abusing its position as host, by pressuring the police body to harass dissidents living abroad

Human rights activists have accused Turkey of using its role as host of Interpol's general assembly to push for a crackdown on critics and political opponents who have fled the country.

The alert came after the Turkish interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, said his government would use the three-day event in Istanbul to persuade the international criminal police organisation's officials and delegates to find, arrest and extradite Turkish dissident citizens - particularly those it labels terrorists - abroad.