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
- JUNE 13, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The 1st Ankara DGM [State Security Court] sentenced...
The 1st Ankara DGM [State Security Court] sentenced DHKP-C [Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front] member Cemalettin Polat to death for "attempting to change the constitution of the Turkish Republic through the force of arms"
- JUNE 13, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Five suspects were sentenced to death in the case on...
Five suspects were sentenced to death in the case on the terrorist organization TKP/ML [Turkish Communist Party/Marxist Leninist-Turkish Workers and Peasants]
- JUNE 12, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Industry and Commerce Minister Ahmet Kenan Tanrikulu...
The Industry and Commerce Minister Ahmet Kenan Tanrikulu said that given the current conditions in Turkey, it was too early to abolish the death sentence
- JUNE 10, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Virtue Party [FP] leader Recai Kutan said that "Ocalan...
Virtue Party [FP] leader Recai Kutan said that "Ocalan must be executed"
- JUNE 6, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament said after talks with Turkey...
The European Parliament said after talks with Turkey that Ankara's failure to abolish the death penalty remained an obstacle to better relations as it seeks membership of the European Union
- JUNE 3, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, in a statement from death...
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, in a statement from death row, said that a general amnesty must be legislated, so that arms could be laid down
- MAY 31, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Izmir State Security court handed down the death...
The Izmir State Security court handed down the death penalty on six of the 22 alleged members of the far-left urban guerrilla group Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-The indictment said they shot the soldiers in fighting with security forces in 1998
- MAY 30, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Belgium's refusal to extradite Fehriye Erdal [charged...
Belgium's refusal to extradite Fehriye Erdal [charged with murdering a Turkish businessman] to Turkey rekindled the debate over the death penalty
- MAY 27, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said Belgium's decision...
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said Belgium's decision not to extradite Fehriye Erdal that "shows that Turkey has to discuss its punishment system, including the death penalty, calmly"
- MAY 26, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt announced that...
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt announced that the government would not extradite Fehriye Erdal, one of the suspects of the assassinated Turkish industrialist Ozdemir Sabanci, to Turkey, overruling a Supreme Court decision
- MAY 16, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Walter Schwimmer, the Secretary General of the Council...
Walter Schwimmer, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CE) said that CE welcomed election of Ahmet Necdet Sezer as the 10th President of Turkey
- MAY 3, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Libya arrested dozens of suspected Islamist opposition...
Libya arrested dozens of suspected Islamist opposition figures following deportations of dissidents to the north African country, the London-based Islamic Observation Centre said
- MAY 1, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Court of Appeals sentenced to death two of the...
The Court of Appeals sentenced to death two of the three men accused of the Tuzla bombing incident in which five people were killed and 36 were injured
- APRIL 10, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, the EU term president,...
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, the EU term president, Portugal's Foreign Minister Jaime Gama, and the EU commissioner for enlargement, Guenter Verheugen, staged a joint press briefing at the end of Turkey-EU Association Council
- APRIL 7, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
German President Johannes Rau said that the European...
German President Johannes Rau said that the European Union (EU) constituted a great perspective for Turkey, adding, "The EU is not only a markets union, first of all it is a union of values
- MARCH 10, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said in an interview with...
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said in an interview with that the inclusion of the death penalty in Turkish Penal Code constitutes an impediment for Turkey's membership to the European Union (EU) and Turkey is aware of that fact
- MARCH 3, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen, on a...
Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen, on a visit to Ankara, said that Turkey had made some progress in human rights, however there were still many things to be done in this field
- FEBRUARY 21, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh,...
The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh, visited the Human Rights Association, where she was greeted by its former president, Akin Birdal
- FEBRUARY 21, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
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- FEBRUARY 16, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
About 1,000 Kurds demonstrated in Lebanon to mark the...
About 1,000 Kurds demonstrated in Lebanon to mark the first anniversary of the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan by Turkey and to demand his release
- FEBRUARY 12, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
About 16,000 Kurds demonstrated in the French city...
About 16,000 Kurds demonstrated in the French city of Strasbourg to demand the release of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who was sentenced to death in Turkey, police said
- FEBRUARY 9, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) formally abandoned...
The Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) formally abandoned its 15-year separatist rebellion in south-east Turkey and adopted the democratic political programme pleaded for by its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan
- FEBRUARY 5, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The families of the martyrs staged a demonstration...
The families of the martyrs staged a demonstration to protest the postponement of the execution of the capital punishment for [Kurdish leader] Abdullah Ocalan
- JANUARY 19, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The leader of the Turkish Islamist Virtue Party, Recai...
The leader of the Turkish Islamist Virtue Party, Recai Kutan, said that he sees the maintenance of capital punishment as a "vital necessity" if its abolition was not required for Turkey's entry to the EU
- JANUARY 18, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
A delegation of the Kirikkale Relatives of Martyrs...
A delegation of the Kirikkale Relatives of Martyrs Association led by the chairman Mehmet Gencer, criticized the government's decision to postpone the capital punishment given to Abdullah Ocalan, the head of terrorist organization, during a visit to Presi
- JANUARY 17, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
A Turkish government commission began its proceedings...
A Turkish government commission began its proceedings to review the death penalty
- JANUARY 16, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk, said "capital punishment...
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk, said "capital punishment in Turkey would be evaluated within the scope of new penal code
- JANUARY 16, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Omer Cicek, the Chairman of Adiyaman Relatives of Martyrs...
Omer Cicek, the Chairman of Adiyaman Relatives of Martyrs Solidarity Association, reacted against the coalition partners' decision to postpone execution of capital punishment given to Abdullah Ocalan, the head of terrorist organization PKK
- JANUARY 15, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
The Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association...
The Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) in its report titled "Rising Democratic Standards in Turkey: Discussions and Latest Developments" included points about "implementing capital punishment only during war and similar situati
- JANUARY 15, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit warned Abdullah...
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit warned Abdullah Ocalan that he was risking his neck by issuing statements from death row