Turkey signed a European protocol banning the death...

Turkey signed a European protocol banning the death penalty in peacetime a symbolic move demonstrating its commitment to human rights as it waits to open talks on EU membership.
Turkey abolished capital punishment in August 2002, under pressure from the European Union to improve its human rights record as a condition for being considered for EU membership.
The Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body, said in a statement that Ankara had signed protocol six of the European Convention on Human Rights, banning the death penalty.
"We consider this important step by Turkey as another sign of the determination of the government to continue with the important democratic reforms it has begun," said Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Strasbourg-based Council.
Schwimmer said he hoped Turkey would ratify the protocol soon. It was the 44th and last Council member to sign the document.
EU leaders agreed at a summit in December to review in 2004 Turkey's bid for membership of the bloc and to open accession talks if Ankara met strict human rights criteria.
Turkey's new Justice and Development Party government, which won a landslide general election victory in November 2002, has made EU membership its top foreign policy priority.