ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Saturday, asks parliament to reconsider death penalty for July coup bid plotters.
“This proposal (on capital punishment) will be taken to the parliament and I am certain that the parliament will approve it,” Erdogan said at an inauguration ceremony in Ankara.
“Very soon, don´t worry. It´s going to happen soon, God willing,” he said, as crowds present chanted, “We want the death penalty!”
Turkey eliminated the death penalty in 2004 as the country wanted accession to the European Union.
After the failed coup on July 15, much to the dismay of EU leaders, the president threatened to bring the death penalty back for the plotters.
Despite calls from the EU to act within the rule of law, the relentless crackdown against alleged plotters in state institutions caused tense relations between Brussels and Ankara.
Erdogan mocked the West’s warnings on the death penalty.
“The West says this, the West says that. Excuse me, but what matters is not what the West says, but what my people say,” he said, during an inauguration ceremony of a high-speed train station in the Turkish capital.
According to official data, more than 35,000 people have been arrested in the crackdown unleashed after the failed coup.
Exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen has been blamed for masterminding the coup — a claim he denies.
United States, where Gulen lives, has received repeated calls from Erdogan´s government to deport him.