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. Stating that after Parliament makes a decision on elections the AKP would work to enact EU laws on which a consensus has been reached, Gul said, "Our aim is to make heavy life sentences an article of the Constitution. If we don't make changes to the Constitution or laws, five years from now some people in prisons could be ended up being freed. We will put forward a constitutional proposal to make this impossible."