Skip to main content

Turkey's death penalty plans are blueprint for future

"Wide-ranging effects on Turkey's economy and its relations with Europe."
"Wide-ranging effects on Turkey's economy and its relations with Europe."
Turkey's government is pressing on with its plans to bring back the death penalty despite the risk of dashing EU accession hopes. Tom Stevenson reports from Istanbul.

When Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) abolished capital punishment in 2004, the move was widely praised as evidence of the pragmatism and political maturity of the country's religious conservatives.

Turkey had not carried out a death penalty since 1984 but its legal abolition was hailed as a symbol of a break from the days of military rule under which figures such as former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was hanged in 1960, and prominent left-wing activist Deniz Gezmis in 1971.

Just 12 years later, the same ruling party is in the final stages of preparing to reinstate capital punishment as part of a radical set of changes to Turkey's constitution that supporters and critics alike say will be a blueprint for the country's future.

The government's volte face on reinstating capital punishment has come directly out of the shifting grounds of Turkish politics that followed the attempted military coup against the state in July. Immediately after the coup attempt was thwarted, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim publicly raised the idea of reinstating the death penalty in law.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since raised the issue on several occasions and used others as an example. "The US has it, Japan has it, China has it, most of the world has it. So they are allowed to have it... Sovereignty belongs to the people, so if the people make this decision I am sure the political parties will comply," he said at a post-coup rally this summer.

Yet despite the timing of the move, Prime Minister Yildirim has repeatedly made clear that if the bill is passed, it would not be possible to mete out a death sentence retroactively and therefore that it could not be applied to the suspected coup plotters.

'Part of Islam'


Getting people on the street to comment is far from easy these days, but those that are willing to talk don't mince their words. "Capital punishment is part of Islam, it is religion. If someone kills another man then he deserves to be killed too - for me it is that simple," 59-year-old Huseyin Akturan told DW, outside a traditional cafe in Istanbul's generally conservative Tophane neighborhood.

The government's main purpose in reintroducing the death penalty debate may be to whip up popular support among the country's most conservative elements, according to one academic expert on justice and democracy at a leading Turkish university who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

"It looks like the consolidation of one-man rule is the immediate goal of the new regime that is being established and the ultra-nationalists have always wanted this; it's playing to their interests as a kind of political mobilization," the academic told DW.

A national referendum on a new constitution that would expand president Erdogan's constitutional power is expected to be held as early as this coming spring and the argument posits that recent, highly conservative government policies on the reinstatement of capital punishment and the liberalization of child marriage are fodder for the far-right in advance of the referendum.

"Ahead of that time they would like to foment and politically mobilize all sectors of society that are happy to see blood: nationalists, racists, lumpen elements within the society because their votes are going to be needed again," the academic said.

Should the plans to reintroduce the death penalty make it into law, there will be wide-ranging effects on Turkey's economy and its relations with Europe, particularly on the stymied EU accession process.

Anti EU-sentiment


However European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's pledge that "if Turkey should bring back the death penalty, we will immediately stop the negotiation process" currently carries little weight in Ankara, where anti-EU sentiment has been growing rapidly since the failed coup attempt.

More pressing for Turkish officials is the concern that reintroducing the death penalty now would damage the extradition request that the government has filed in the United States for Pennsylvania-based Turkish preacher Fetullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government believes was the prime suspect behind the July coup attempt.

"The government would like to get rid of the political constraints implied in the EU accession process and international law, it cares less and less about these things and I think the death penalty will be reintroduced, because the AKP also has an ideological commitment to it," said the academic expert on justice and democracy.

Emel Kurma, the general coordinator of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly human rights group in Turkey, says all the talk about the death penalty is a useful distraction for Erdogan and his party.

"Stirring up a debate to re-install capital punishment serves Erdogan and the government in diverting public attention from the actual political/economic challenges as concretely experienced in practical daily life," she told DW.

Kurma also argues that the AKP is using capital punishment in order to further cement its alliance with the MHP nationalist party and thereby increase its influence in parliament.

"On a much more practical basis, the capital punishment card provides good leverage to attain the support of MHP, the nationalist conservatives. Thus, it is aimed to weld their support to that of the traditional AKP electorate: the religious conservatives," she said. "The stirring up of capital punishment is a symptom of increasing adoption of authoritarian policies and practices, as the world at large is shifting into populist or authoritarian regimes and illiberal democracies."

Source: Deutsche Welle, November 29, 2016

Different voices from inside Turkey's ruling party


Deputy Prime Minister Tugrul Turkes is known to be against the death penalty. In the cabinet meeting presided by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Oct. 31, he expressed his views outright.

"Even if the capital punishment is reintroduced, you cannot hang Ocalan and Gulen," Turkes said, referring to the Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for the July 15 coup. When Erdogan looked at him with questioning eyes, Turkes went on, "This is because, since Magna Carta, penalties are not retroactive." While the entire cabinet and the president were listening with heightened interest, he said, "In this case, we would bring back the death penalty but we would not be able to practice it. Reinstalling death penalty would disrupt our image. They would immediately expel us from the Council of Europe and NATO.?

Upon these words of Turkes, Erdogan said, "How can they remove us from NATO? There is capital punishment in the U.S." Turkes elaborated, "This has been like this from the beginning in the U.S. There was capital punishment before NATO was formed; they did not change it afterward. They have a separate law. But we have been subject to the continental Europe law from the beginning."

On the other hand, a cabinet minister known for his notable proclamations on the EU, in his meeting with the deputy chair of the AK Party, bluntly said, "If capital punishment is brought in, I will vote negatively."

We have seen during the sexual abuse criminalization debates that the public in Turkey, since opposition remains inadequate, expects the members of the ruling AK Party to warn the government.

In this process, there are certain people the president and the prime minister have consulted in the struggle against FETO, capital punishment and the presidential system. For this reason, I would like to reflect the shared thoughts of President Erdogan and PM Binali Yildirim. These names which are only a handful but have huge respectability, I think, and represent certain sensitivity within the AK Party.

At the top of the matters is the capital punishment. "Death sentence cannot be retroactive. For this reason, it is not possible to execute Fethullah Gulen and Ocalan. It can only be practiced as of the date it is processed. It is also questionable what deterrence this would have for future acts."

There are wrongs and rights in the fight against the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO). Here is a broader analysis:

"Our president categorized the FETO structuring to 3 levels as the top being betrayal, the middle commerce and the bottom worship. The betrayal attempted a coup in July 15. This has military and civilian connections. They have connections in military, police, the national intelligence organization. They have brothers, sisters and imams in civilian life. We should fight these.

"The commercial middle class, though, is a structure financially supporting them. In fighting these, we should determine a commercial capacity. We should target those that have a certain commercial capacity; however, we should not spread it to the street grocery store level.

"There is also the believer, the worshipper dimension. We should make them see the truth.

"Out of those who have been caught in July 15, 90 % are in the betrayal group. The judgement should start from there. Each institute should not have its own measures. There should be penalty criteria of 4 or 5 clauses. The process should function accordingly. But this is not being done. The fight is conducted irregularly. Social wounds are opened. The civilian leg has reached hundreds of thousands but the military leg has not yet reached 10,000. The fight against FETO business should not be considered as a score."

On the subject of conducting the presidential system together with the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), there is a "be careful" warning. "As a result of the presidential system, there will be a bi-party system. The MHP will erode. Why should MHP leader Devlet Baheli want a system where the MHP will lose? Where does this appetite for the presidential system come from for Bahceli? Will the MHP crash us to the wall?"

We are walking step by step to the "President of the Republic" system. It looks as if the constitutional amendment will pass in the parliament and it will be acknowledged with a significant vote rate in the referendum. Nevertheless, I still wanted to reflect different evaluations within the AK Party.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News, November 30, 2016

⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.


Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Most viewed (Last 7 days)

Texas death row prisoner dies after more than 30 years behind bars

A Houston-area man convicted of killing his wife died this week after more than 3 decades on death row, marking the 2nd condemned prisoner to die behind bars in the past month.  Prison officials confirmed that William "Billy the Kid" Mason was taken to the hospital on Wednesday and died of cardiac arrest Friday morning.  The 71-year-old was originally sent to death row in 1992, after prosecutors said he'd kidnapped his wife and beaten her to death under a bridge because she was playing the radio too loudly. According to court records, her body was found several days later under some logs near the San Jacinto River.

Louisiana | Mother calls for man exonerated of raping and murdering her child to go free

Wrongful convictions by 2 discredited Mississippi experts tops at least 10. A victim’s family in Louisiana is now speaking out.  Prosecutors fighting the release of death row inmate Jimmie Duncan after a judge found him “factually innocent” of raping and murdering 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux are “not speaking for Haley’s family,” her mother says.  Speaking publicly for the 1st time, Allison Layton Statham called for Duncan to go free in a July 22 bail hearing. “This innocent man is on death row,” she told Mississippi Today. “Justice needs to be done.”  In April, a judge threw out Duncan’s conviction, questioning their conclusions and citing the failures of his court-appointed counsel.

Alabama Gov. sets execution date for Geoffrey Todd West

Ivey sets execution for Geoffrey Todd West for 1997 murder at Alabama convenience store ATTALLA, Ala. – A man convicted of killing a convenience store clerk during a 1997 robbery in Attalla is now scheduled to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia later this year, nearly three decades after the crime shook Attalla and Etowah County.

Tennessee death row inmate makes last-ditch effort to prevent Aug. 5 execution

Attorneys for a Tennessee death row inmate have launched a last-ditch effort to prevent his Aug. 5 execution. In Nashville 's Chancery Court, they are asking a judge to require the Tennessee Department of Correction to deactivate an implanted defibrillation device similar to a pacemaker in the moments before Byron Black 's execution. If the judge rules in their favor, such an order could potentially delay the execution until the state finds someone willing to do the deactivation.

Inside a Mississippi execution: Clarion Ledger reporter recounts what it was like

The visitation center at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman has no windows, just fluorescent lighting, plastic chairs and tables in a cafeteria-style room. I could technically step outside, but only through a single entrance and doing so meant going through the full security screening all over again — it didn’t feel worth it. A few friendly prison staff walked around, quietly watching us. The Wi-Fi cut in and out. All the while, I returned to the thought I was there to watch someone die.

Inside Japan's secretive execution jails where death row inmates are given minutes notice before facing the noose

From the outside, the Tokyo Detention House looks much like the other tall, austere buildings native to Katsushika City, but its drab facade and tree-lined grounds conceal a far more sinister reality. It is here that Japan's most deplorable criminals are plucked from their cells and hanged underneath fluorescent lights in a cold, bare wood-panelled room.  There is a chillingly theatrical element to how the condemned are executed in the East Asian country - the only member of the G7 besides the US that still metes out capital punishment.  Shackled prisoners are led past a small gold statue of Kannon, a Buddhist figure associated with compassion, as they enter their sterile execution chamber. 

Journalists Reflect on the Challenges and Importance of Media Reporting on the Death Penalty

In this month’s pod­cast episode of 12:01 The Death Penalty in Context, DPIC’s Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Sam Levin, a cor­re­spon­dent with The Guardian who cov­ers crim­i­nal jus­tice and the legal sys­tem, and Jimmy Jenkins, a crim­i­nal jus­tice reporter for The Arizona Republic , about the chal­lenges they encounter when report­ing on the increas­ing secre­tive use of the death penal­ty. Mr. Jenkins has wit­nessed exe­cu­tions in Arizona and Mr. Levin has recent­ly inves­ti­gat­ed South Carolina’s return to exe­cu­tions after a 13-year pause.

Japan executes 'Twitter killer' who murdered nine in 2017

TOKYO — Japan on Friday executed a man dubbed the "Twitter killer" who murdered and dismembered nine people he met online, in the nation's first enactment of the death penalty since 2022. Takahiro Shiraishi, 34, was hanged for killing his young victims, all but one of whom were women, after contacting them on the social media platform now called X. He had targeted users who posted about taking their own lives, telling them he could help them in their plans, or even die alongside them. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said Shiraishi's crimes, carried out in 2017, included "robbery, rape, murder... destruction of a corpse and abandonment of a corpse".

Woman who watched nearly 300 executions explained moment she had to give it up

Michelle Lyons' job wasn't for the fainthearted A woman who watched nearly 300 death row executions take place over 12 years opened up about how her macabre career impacted her life. For more than a decade, it was part of Michelle Lyons' job description to observe the final moments of hundreds of prisoners in the US state of Texas. She says the process never 'become mundane or normal', although she did become acclimatized to it - as she went on to watch so many executions that she 'can't recall' a lot of them.

New execution methods may soon come to Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Next month, the state of Florida will officially be allowed to use new means of executing prisoners on death row — with some caveats. That’s because of a state law (HB 903) that’s set to take effect on July 1, alongside over 120 others. The law actually makes a variety of technical changes to different issues, including prepayment of court costs, statutes of limitations on prisoner lawsuits, and location tracking for inmates. However, one of the more prominent issues tackled by the law is the death penalty. Under prior law, a death sentence carried out in Florida had to be performed via either electrocution or lethal injection. The choice of which was left up to the prisoner being executed.