Erdogan revives spectre of death penalty in Turkey Iraq summons Turkish envoy

Istanbul, April 20: “What George, Hans or Helga say does not interest us!” roars Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “What counts for us is what Ayse, Murat, Mehmet, Hatice say! What Allah says!”

This mantra — setting common European names against Turkish ones and finally invoking God — has become Mr Erdogan’s standard rhetoric to tell the European Union he does not care about their reaction if Turkey restores the death penalty.

But such a move would have immense ramifications — automatically drawing the curtain on the half-century drama that has been Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

Some analysts thought that Mr Erdogan would drop his rhetoric on capital punishment, helpful for winning the support of nationalists, after the April 16 referendum on enhancing his powers.

But with the referendum won, albeit by a narrow margin and the opposition claiming fraud, Mr Erdogan has vigorously returned to the topic. Baghdad: Iraq’s foreign ministry has summoned the Turkish ambassador over an interview in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described an Iraqi paramilitary organisation as “terrorist”, officials said Thursday. “The foreign ministry has decided to summon the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad to hand him a formal protest note,” ministry spokesman Ahmad Jamal said.

After proclaiming victory, Mr Erdogan promised thousands of supporters chanting “Idam!” (“Execution!”) that Turkey would hold a referendum on the issue if parliament failed to adopt it.

European Parliament president Antonio Tajani wrote on Twitter that he was “very concerned” by Mr Erdogan’s comments, saying the reintroduction would be a “red line” for the European Union.