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Germany: Turkey’s European Union bid canceled if it revives death penalty

A return of the death penalty would seemingly take that progress a step back, as abolition of the death penalty is a precondition to entering the EU.

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“Germany and the member states of the European Union have a clear position on that: we categorically reject the death penalty”, Steffen Seibert told a news conference in Berlin.

European Union candidate Turkey would be barred from joining the bloc if it reinstated the death penalty following last week’s failed military coup, European Union foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said Monday.

He labelled as “worrisome” assertions made by Turkish President Erdogan suggesting capital punishment could be reintroduced, after a failed coup attempt by the Turkish military at the weekend.(ANSAmed).

Mr. Seibert also criticized the Turkish response to Friday night’s coup attempt.

Authorities on Sunday that they had detained some 6,000 soldiers, while issuing 3,000 arrest warrants for representatives of the judiciary, after the attempted coup when 290 people, of whom about 100 participants in it, died.

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Supporters of the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took to the streets, some chanting “we want death penalty”.

Theresa May