OTTAWA – The head of a visiting delegation of Turkish lawmakers says his country will not retroactively impose the death penalty on plotters of the botched July 15 coup.
Dr. Kani Torum, the deputy chair of the Turkish parliament’s foreign relations committee, also says his country is very disappointed in Western allies – including Canada – who have criticized his government’s tough response to the coup.
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Almost 18,000 people, most from the military, have been detained or arrested, while tens of thousands of people have been suspended from various government sectors, academia and journalism for alleged ties to the botched coup.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said he would welcome a return of the death penalty, a possibility that has been condemned by several European countries, and by Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion.
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Torum says even if Turkey’s parliament re-introduces legislation to bring back the death penalty, which the country abolished in 2004 as part of its attempt to join the European Union, it wouldn’t apply retroactively to those charged in the coup.
He says there may be widespread public support for its reintroduction but that could dissipate by the autumn, when Turkey’s parliament would have the next opportunity to address the issue.
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