Filenews 5 September 2020
The president of the Turkish National Assembly and a high-ranking official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Mustafa Sedop, today called for the reintroduction of the death penalty for specific crimes.
His statement follows a similar request made this week by Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Action Party, and a government partner of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The last imposition of the death penalty in Turkey was in 1984. Parliament adopted a reform package in 2002 that included its abolition. It was repealed by the penal code in 2004 amid Turkey's push towards membership of the European Union.
Rekindling the debate, the president of the Turkish National Assembly said the imposition of the death penalty should be limited to murders and sex crimes against children, according to turkish news agency Anadolu.
Sedop, one of the most senior officials of the AKP, Erdogan's party, noted, however, that the issue should be debated in parliament because it requires constitutional changes.
Since the failed 2016 coup attempt, Erdogan has spoken of holding a referendum on the question of reinstating the death penalty. A possible reinstatement of the last of the sanctions would end any attempt by Turkey to join the EU, a process that has already been frozen.
Bahceli said the National Assembly should reinstate the death penalty when parliament resumes in October. The death penalty would act as a deterrent, he argued, citing specific crimes such as sexual offences against children and women.
Women in recent weeks have been protesting across the country over concerns that Ankara may withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.
Rights groups point out that more than 400 women were murdered in 2019 because of their gender, in homicides allegedly committed by male relatives or partners. The Turkish government does not collect such data.
Source: RES-BE
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