Erdogan Says Majority of Turkish Citizens Support Reinstatement of Death Penalty

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said a 57-percent majority of the country's citizens back the idea of reinstating the capital punishment after the mid-July coup attempt.

ROME (Sputnik) — Erdogan announced the country would return the death penalty if the people demanded it after a coup to overthrow him on July 15 failed.

"Fifty seven percent of citizens support it, if the parliament votes for it, no one will be able to interfere," Erdogan told the Italian RaiNews24 television channel in an interview published on Tuesday.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday that talks with Turkey on its admission to the European Union would be stopped the moment Ankara reinstated capital punishment.