Turkey became the first predominantly Islamic country to abolish the death penalty — a fact that was taken as a turning point with regard to its European orientation. This did not mean, however, that executions were carried out easily in Turkey prior to the abolishment of the death penalty.
The last execution took place in 1984, even though the death penalty was not abolished until 2002 — except for treason during times of war or a threat to national security —and then in 2004 for all crimes, including treason.
Executions under democratically elected governments could only be carried out in Turkey with parliamentary permission, which was not easy to obtain given the controversial history of political executions in the country, including that of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was ousted by a military coup and sentenced by a military court to death by hanging in 1961 for treason.
In 1984, a young left-wing activist, Hidir Aslan, was the last person to be executed after he was accused of killing three police officers during a bank robbery. There is still controversy surrounding his case.
The recent cases of brutality against children have forced even Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of his government to pay lip service to the notion of capital punishment in an effort to appease public anger.
When asked by reporters on May 2, after the body of Gizem Akdeniz was discovered and her alleged murderer arrested, if the government was considering reviving the death penalty, Erdogan conceded that the punishment for such crimes should be death.
Source: al-Monitor, Semih Idiz, May 3, 2014
