Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said that capital...

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said that capital punishment can be abolished if it is removed from the framework of Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code [TCK], which formed the basis of the conviction of terrorist Abdullah Ocalan and many other Kurdistan Workers' Party militants. He said that the death penalty can be removed by mid 2001 if it is included in the bill that will call for changes in the TCK. Stressing that the debate on the removal of the capital sentencein the press led the people to wrongly believe that the initiative was aimed at obstructing Ocalan's execution, Turk asserted that exceptions can be made from a legal point of view when measures are taken to abolish the death penalty. He asserted: "Article 6 of the European Human Rights Protocol says that the death penalty can be applied only at times of `war' or `law intensity clashes'."