ANKARA(Sputnik) — About 90 percent of Turkish citizens are demanding the harshest punishment for those involved in a recent military coup attempt, forcing the Turkish leadership to consider the reinstatement of death penalty in the country, the deputy chair of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) told Sputnik on Thursday.
"Practically 90 percent of the country's population demand the harshest punishment for coup participants, and this has to be a death penalty. They demand this at all rallies. The public pressure forces us to make a choice," Aktay stressed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım have already stated that they do not rule out the possibility of reintroducing capital punishment for thousands of people arrested after a failed military coup last Friday.