MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Following the unsuccessful military coup in Turkey on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told crowds of supporters gathered outside his residence in Istanbul that parliament must consider the public demand for the death penalty to be applied in the case of the coup plotters.
"It is a very strongly view of her Majesty’s government that we oppose the death penalty… It will be a deeply retrograde step, which I think will cause incalculable damage to the standing of Turkey just at the time when it is important to embrace them within the world community and not see them become more isolated from it," Duncan said during a parliamentary session.
He added that the reinstatement of the death penalty would be a self-defeating act on the part of Ankara, as it would ruin any chance of Turkey joining the European Union.
Death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004 to bring its legislation in line with EU standards.
