The Turkish government approved a series of amendments...

The Turkish government approved a series of amendments to the constitution on 3 October. The law entered into force on 17 October. Amended Article 38 stipulates that ''the death penalty cannot be imposed except in times of war, imminent threat of war and for terrorist crimes''.
In the Turkish Criminal Code (TPC) only one of the 13 articles which carry the death penalty refers to common criminal offences; the other 12 refer to ''crimes against the state''. Of these, six are related to war situations. The other six articles in the TPC which carry the death penalty are considered as ''terror crimes''. Of these, the two most frequently used are Article 125 on separatist acts and Article 146 on attempts to forcibly overthrow or alter the Constitution or the Parliament as well as incitement to such a crime, even if it does not go beyond an attempt. As of 8 October 2001, reportedly a total of 61 files concerning 117 people sentenced to death were held at the parliament. Of these 73 (62 per cent) had been passed under Articles 125 and 146. In addition, the file with the death sentence on Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the armed opposition group Kurdistan Workers' Party, is being held at the Office of the Prime Minister. It is believed that the death sentence on Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the armed opposition group Kurdistan Workers' Party, is the main reason for Turkey retaining the death penalty for some crimes in spite of repeated calls on Turkey from international bodies for its abolition.
He was sentenced to hang by a Turkish court on June 29, 1999, after a special fast-track procedure. The rebel chief was convicted for treason and for leading a 15-year guerrilla war for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast of Turkey. On November 25, 1999 the Appeals Court upheld the death sentence imposed on Ocalan. The European Union condemned the ruling and said no country implementing capital punishment was welcome as a member. On November 30, 1999 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg urged Turkey to delay hanging Ocalan until it ruled on his appeal arguing that the death penalty breaches European law. The chief prosecutor of the Turkish Appeals Court rejected Ocalan's final appeal on December 30, 1999.
Turkish courts still impose death sentences but capital punishment has not been enforced since 1984.