Parliamentary Speaker announces support for reintroduction of death penalty

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Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop has announced support for the death penalty "for a limited number of crimes."

His remarks came after he was asked about Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli's call for the reintroduction of the death penalty on Wednesday. 

The MHP is an ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which Şentop is also a member of.

"I am of the opinion that the death penalty should exist to a very limited extent, for certain crimes," he told reporters during a visit to the northwestern Tekirdağ province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

He specified the crimes that should be penalized with death as premeditated murder and sexual crimes against children.

However, he added, an amendment to the Constitution is needed to reintroduce the death penalty, which the ruling bloc is not currently capable of.

A qualified majority is needed to change the Constitution, which amounts to 390 lawmakers whereas the AKP and the MHP have a total of 339 MPs.

Şentop also noted that Turkey is a party to the European Convention Human Rights and its supplementary protocols, should also be evaluated in terms of the death penalty.

With the Law no. 5170 enacted on May 7, 2004, Turkey removed the Constitution's articles related to the death penalty. On July 14, 2004, this was followed by Law No. 5218, which removed the Turkish Penal Code articles related to the death penalty.

In 2002, the government passed a law converting death penalties that had not been executed until that time to aggravated life sentences.

The last death penalty in Turkey was executed in October 1984. (EMK/VK)