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
- MAY 21, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem at a government...
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem at a government leaders' meeting proposed alternatives allowing Kurdish language broadcasting and the lifting of the death penalty amid Turkish efforts to meet EU membership criteria
- MAY 16, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Sami Selcuk, the chairman of the supreme court of appeals,...
Sami Selcuk, the chairman of the supreme court of appeals, addressing a conference on "State and Democracy," in Kocaeli University, said that there is no right reason that can justify death penalty and it has to be abolished
- MAY 15, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
State Minister Nejat Arseven said that the Finnish...
State Minister Nejat Arseven said that the Finnish parliamentary delegation and he had evaluated the developments in Turkey's European Union (EU) candidacy process, adding, "parliamentarians stated that they would support Turkey's EU membership
- MAY 9, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Volkan Vural, the Secretary General for the European...
Volkan Vural, the Secretary General for the European Union (EU), said that they handled EU as a whole and speaking at a conference on future of Europe, he said, he believed that abolition of capital punishment from Turkish legal system was not a difficult
- MAY 7, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
A Turkish security court sentenced to death three Kurdish...
A Turkish security court sentenced to death three Kurdish separatists for the 1994 murder of an Islamist politician
- MAY 6, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The European Union's recent decision to add the PKK...
The European Union's recent decision to add the PKK and DHKP-C to its revised list of terrorist organizations had boosted Turkey's confidence in the Union and also encouraged Turkish leaders and diplomats to take more steps for democratization and improve
- APRIL 26, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Two of the 23 people accused of taking part in various...
Two of the 23 people accused of taking part in various criminal activities, including the murder of Adana Chief Prosecutor Ethem Erkin, his bodyguard and Nationalist Action Party Kartal district organization chairman Nihat Uygun for the illegal TIKB [The
- APRIL 23, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Mesut Yilmaz, ANAP [Motherland Party] leader and deputy...
Mesut Yilmaz, ANAP [Motherland Party] leader and deputy prime minister, has said that a conciliation excluding coalition partner MHP [Nationalist Action Party] will not be sought on issues other than capital punishment
- APRIL 19, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Ankara State Security Court (DGM) no:1 sentenced three...
Ankara State Security Court (DGM) no:1 sentenced three terrorists of the Hezbollah organization to death penalty
- APRIL 19, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Parliament's justice commission passes a draft law...
Parliament's justice commission passes a draft law on the death penalty that would abolish capital punishment except in times of war or the threat of war or for crimes of terrorism
- APRIL 16, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
A group of associations of "Eastern Turkestan" protested...
A group of associations of "Eastern Turkestan" protested [against] Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit in Ankara
- APRIL 6, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Ankara State Security Court [DGM] of the First...
The Ankara State Security Court [DGM] of the First Instance sentenced two men to death and a third to a prison term of 20 years for their role in the Sivas incidents [when 37 people were killed during an Alevi cultural festival]
- APRIL 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
State Minister Nejat Arseven received the members of...
State Minister Nejat Arseven received the members of the Dutch Parliament's EU and Foreign Affairs Commissions
- MARCH 27, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Council of State revealed its opinion on the issue...
The Council of State revealed its opinion on the issue upon the request by the Prime Ministry
- MARCH 24, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk has said "A solution...
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk has said "A solution will be brought to capital punishment in the next three years
- MARCH 21, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The prime minister's office has asked for the opinion...
The prime minister's office has asked for the opinion of the Council of State on whether the death penalty can be suspended without a constitutional amendment
- MARCH 18, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu said that Turkey was...
State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu said that Turkey was a European Union (EU) country as a result of its political regime and exportation
- MARCH 18, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Mesut Yilmaz, Deputy PM, State Minister responsible...
Mesut Yilmaz, Deputy PM, State Minister responsible with relations with EU and the leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), warned that Turkey may face Worst Case Senario in 2003 unless it meets conditions set by European Union in 2002
- MARCH 13, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Sinan Aygun, the Chairman of Ankara Chamber of Commerce...
Sinan Aygun, the Chairman of Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), said that Karen Fogg, the European Union (EU) Commission's Representative to Turkey, mentioned death sentence during the meeting
- MARCH 12, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
A group of relatives of terrorism victims threw a black...
A group of relatives of terrorism victims threw a black wreath into the sea in Mudanya on Tuesday to protest the efforts to abolish death penalty
- MARCH 10, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Felicity Party [SP] leader Recai Kutan, criticized...
Felicity Party [SP] leader Recai Kutan, criticized the MHP's [Nationalist Action Party] stand regarding capital punishment, and explained that this party "is exploiting the tears of mothers of this nation"
- MARCH 8, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said that Turkey acted...
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said that Turkey acted with the principle "peace at home, peace in the world" noting that Turkey could of course both enter the European Union (EU) and set up good relations with Russia and Iran
- MARCH 5, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, during a press...
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, during a press conference in Slovakia, said no link should be made between the death sentence imposed on Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and Turkey's bid to join the European Union
- MARCH 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Jose Maria Aznar, the prime minister of current EU...
Jose Maria Aznar, the prime minister of current EU Term President Spain, said that the date to start Turkey's full membership negotiations could not be fixed before the death penalty and education in mother tongue languages were solved
- MARCH 4, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
State Minister Nejat Arseven meet with Council of Europe...
State Minister Nejat Arseven meet with Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer, and Human Rights Commissioner Gil Robles within framework of his contacts in Strasbourg
- MARCH 2, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk declared that leaders...
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk declared that leaders of terrorist organizations were not included in a new amnesty bill
- FEBRUARY 28, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Sami Selcuk, president of the Supreme Court of Appeals,...
Sami Selcuk, president of the Supreme Court of Appeals, has stated that it has become evident that the death penalty is not a deterrent force and added that Turkey is late in abolishing the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 26, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
State Minister Mustafa Yilmaz said: "as you know, death...
State Minister Mustafa Yilmaz said: "as you know, death sentence was lifted in all member countries to the European Union (EU)
- FEBRUARY 23, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Dutch government denied asylum to Nuriye Kespir,...
The Dutch government denied asylum to Nuriye Kespir, a leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party who is wanted in Turkey to answer terrorism accusations
- FEBRUARY 21, 2002TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action...
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli reiterated that the death penalty dispute would not cause any problems in the coalition government