Yildirim Akbulut, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National...

Yildirim Akbulut, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly [TBMM], said that abolishing the death penalty was not as easy as one might think at the moment. "We wish there were no death penalty. However, we must think what is suitable to Turkey's conditions. We must debate that and think about that well," Akbulut said. "We would consider lifting the death penalty not because the European Court of Human Rights wants it but for the good of our own people and our own administration."