He added that the government has been seeking to bring back capital punishment since the July 2015 coup attempt.
“The [public] demand for reinstatement of capital punishment will be brought to Parliament. I wish that the moment it is passed by Parliament, I could approve it. But there is a problem, it requires a constitutional amendment. The 16th of the month [April] will be an answer to this. If necessary, we can hold a new referendum on this [reintroduction of capital punishment],” Erdogan said, as quoted by the Turkish Minute media outlet.
The death penalty was banned in Turkey in 2004 as part of Turkey’s attempt to be closer to the European Union. However, after a July attempted coup in Turkey, voices requesting the reinstatement of the death penalty have been on the rise.
EU officials slammed the possible move, saying it would undermine Turkey’s EU accession bid.