Turks
Consider Lifting Death Penalty
Feb
17
ANKARA,
Turkey - Nationalists in Turkey's coalition government said Sunday they
opposed lifting the death penalty, a key European Union demand for the
country's membership in the group.
In
September, Turkey limited the death penalty to cases involving terrorism
and those that happen during times of war. The EU, though, has demanded
that Turkey eliminate capital punishment altogether and not hang Kurdish
rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, now on death row.
The
EU's demand to abolish capital punishment would amount to giving
concessions to Kurdish rebels, the nationalists said. Ocalan is the leader
of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.
"Yes
to EU, but you can't accept demands which overlap with those of the PKK,"
said Ismail Kose, deputy chairman of the Nationalist Action Party. "We
will certainly continue to oppose lifting the death penalty in crimes
committed against the state."
Ocalan
was sentenced to death in 1999 on charges of treason for leading a
separatist rebellion against the state for autonomy in the country's
Kurdish-dominated southeast.
Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit is hoping to lift the death penalty by reaching a
consensus in parliament for the sake of EU membership.
Turkey
has not executed anyone since 1984..
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