Türkiye
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In Turkey offenses punishable by death under ordinary...
- News items in the archive
- 321
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Türkiye is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 321 news items on Türkiye, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- AUGUST 17, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Sevket...
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Sevket Bulent Yahnici sent a letter to Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to demand that normal convict status be prepared for Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization, and that he be transferred t
- AUGUST 11, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, sentenced to...
Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, sentenced to death in 1999, praised Turkey's abolition of capital punishment as the most important decision in its modern history, in an interview
- AUGUST 10, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Devlet Bahceli, Nationalist Action Party [MHP] leader...
Devlet Bahceli, Nationalist Action Party [MHP] leader and deputy prime minister, declared that embarking on a road based on the notions of blackmail and surrender in Turkey's ties with the EU will prepare the ground for more excessive demands pertaining t
- AUGUST 9, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
In a letter to the editor of the UK Independent daily,...
In a letter to the editor of the UK Independent daily, MP Ann Clwyd wrote: "Along with other members of the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group, I am encouraged by the recent legislative reforms in Turkey, which pave the way for the abolition of th
- AUGUST 9, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The files of those who were sentenced to death on charges...
The files of those who were sentenced to death on charges of terrorism will be reviwed after Turkey abolished the death sentence except for the "crimes committed in times of war and situations of imminent war"
- AUGUST 8, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer formally ratified...
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer formally ratified a package of human rights reforms aimed at preparing the country for European Union membership, his official Web site said
- AUGUST 6, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that authorities...
Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that authorities should be extremely careful in order to prevent Turkey's EU reforms from harming Turkey's national integrity
- AUGUST 6, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Associations of people who lost their relatives to...
Associations of people who lost their relatives to terrorism protested the abolition of death penalty at a number of meetings across Turkey
- AUGUST 5, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Acting Chairman...
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Acting Chairman Ismail Kose criticized MHP's partners in the government coalition who supported the approval of the EU bill abolishing the death penalty for terrorist crimes, and claimed that their purpose was to save
- AUGUST 5, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz during a meeting...
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz during a meeting with the representatives of EU countries, said: "In a country that has suffered so much from terrorism and lost more than thirty thousand of its citizens to terror, at a time when separatist terrorism is
- AUGUST 5, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkish National Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu...
Turkish National Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said the [negative] reaction of the relatives of the martyrs to the abolishment of death sentence was rightful
- AUGUST 5, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkey's passage of sweeping human rights reforms has...
Turkey's passage of sweeping human rights reforms has earned it the right to begin European Union membership talks, the country's top bureaucrat for EU affairs Volkan Vural said
- AUGUST 5, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said that the abolition...
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said that the abolition of the death penalty would not bring any changes to the imprisonment of Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization, on Imrali Island, and he would continue to be held there for securit
- AUGUST 5, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Kurdistan Worker's Party supporters in Azerbaijan received...
Kurdistan Worker's Party supporters in Azerbaijan received the news of the commutation of [jailed leader] Abdullah Ocalan's death sentence with great joy, following the Turkish Parliament's vote to abolish the death sentence for terrorism, Azerbaijani new
- AUGUST 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association,...
The Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association, TUSIAD, welcomed the lifting of the death penalty
- AUGUST 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Around 2,500 people will escape the death penalty after...
Around 2,500 people will escape the death penalty after parliament voted to abolish capital punishment from the [civil] code except in times of war or near war
- AUGUST 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit called upon the...
Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit called upon the European Union (EU) to set a date for the start of accession talks after lawmakers adopted a package of democracy reforms demanded by the EU
- AUGUST 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
State Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist...
State Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said, "those who criticized the MHP for not bringing the file of Abdullah Ocalan, the head of terrorist organization PKK, to the parliament in the past, have
- AUGUST 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Terrorism Victims' Solidarity and Cooperation Association...
Terrorism Victims' Solidarity and Cooperation Association Chairman Mehmet Alptekin said that the association condemned those who had expended efforts for abolition of death penalty, and broadcasting and education in Kurdish under the European Union (EU) r
- AUGUST 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Devlet Bahceli, deputy prime minister, said he would...
Devlet Bahceli, deputy prime minister, said he would appeal to Turkey's highest court over the reforms, which include lifting the death penalty in peacetime and easing curbs on Kurdish language education and broadcasting
- AUGUST 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said, "annulment...
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said, "annulment of death penalty, and broadcasting and education in mother tongue are the arrangements made with the aim of broadening freedoms
- AUGUST 3, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Pro-European politicians won a landmark victory in...
Pro-European politicians won a landmark victory in Turkey with the passage of legislative reforms that delighted human rights activists
- AUGUST 1, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Group Acting Chairman...
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Group Acting Chairman Koray Aydin said that they would submit a motion to exclude four articles from the text in European Union (EU) adjustment bill
- JULY 31, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Parliamentary Justice Commission approved late...
The Parliamentary Justice Commission approved late on the day the bill on adjusment with the EU
- JULY 30, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Constitutional Commission approved the first article...
The Constitutional Commission approved the first article of the EU adjustment bill which proposes to lift death sentence for terrorist crimes and limits it to only war and war like situations
- JULY 28, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Abdullah...
Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Abdullah Gul said that his party supported legislation needed for Turkey's European Union membership bid but that the death sentence should be considered separately
- JULY 26, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) completed its...
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) completed its studies on the EU laws bill and informed the Motherland Party (ANAP) administration about its views
- JULY 26, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkey's new foreign minister said that the country's...
Turkey's new foreign minister said that the country's drive for European Union membership would not be derailed if parliament fails to pass key reforms before elections expected in November
- JULY 25, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Supreme Court of Appeals Chairman Eraslan Ozkaya said...
Supreme Court of Appeals Chairman Eraslan Ozkaya said that the death penalty has to be abolished in Turkey, adding that a solution has to be found to the issue of education and broadcasting in mother tongue without damaging the unity and integrity of Turk
- JULY 24, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz sought...
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz sought to underline his pro-European credentials ahead of likely elections, accusing rival parties of half-hearted support for EU reforms