Erdogan restates he would approve capital punishment

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday reiterated his support for a restoration of the death penalty in Turkey “if the Parliament passed.”

Speaking to several hundred people chanting “death penalty” in the northern Black Sea city of Trabzon, Erdogan pointed to Turkish soldiers killed in the fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to justify his stance.

“I would approve that [death penalty] because we cannot forgive the murderers of my Mehmed martyred in Gabar mountains, we cannot forgive the murderers of my Mehmed martyred in Tendurek,” said Erdogan referring to soldiers with a common Turkish male name affectionately used for troops.

The PKK and Turkish Army have been locked in a renewed warfare in the Kurdish mountainous heartland including Gabar Mountain in Sirnak Province neighboring the Kurdistan Region and Tendurek Mountain in the East near the Iranian border.

Discussions in public and political spheres of Turkey over capital punishment began immediately after the failed July 15 military coup attempt when Erdogan gave a series of speeches to his supporters in Istanbul.

Erdogan also slammed Western countries for opposing such a move, stating they had to respect the Turkish Parliament’s decision should it pass a law backing the death penalty.

In July, both the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini warned Turkey it could not join the EU if the death penalty were reinstated.

Turkey has not applied the death penalty since 1984 and removed it from the law in 2004 as a part of accession negotiations with the EU.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany