Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, speaking at a meeting...

Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, speaking at a meeting entitled Turkey's Place in the EU organized by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Istanbul, stated that the banning of capital punishment was included among Turkey's middle term goals in the National Program.
"Banning the death sentence will save Turkey from isolation in all over Europe, not only in the EU. Today, in Europe, Turkey is the only country that still has capital punishment in its laws although it doesn't practice it. We haven't practiced capital punishment for the last 17 years and if we also remove it from our law, it would be a step forward for Turkey which wants to become a modern state."