In front of at least 1 million people at Sunday's Democracy and Martyrs' Rally in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said if parliament and the public agreed, he would approve the return of the death penalty.
"It is the Turkish parliament that will decide on the death penalty," Erdogan said, adding, "They say there is no death penalty in the EU … well, the U.S. has it, Japan has it, China has it, most of the world has it. So they are allowed to have it. We used to have it until 1984. Sovereignty belongs to the people, so if the people make this decision I am sure the political parties will comply."
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