Turkish Ambassador in Dhaka Hüseyin Muftuoglu on Thursday said Turkey is against death penalty but it respects any independent court decision here, reported UNB. “In principle, we’ve abolished death penalty. We don’t have death penalty. We’re, in principle, against the death penalty,” the envoy told reporters at the Foreign Ministry after a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni. Responding to a question, the Turkish envoy said their position regarding death penalty is known to all and many (European) countries have similar conditions. “It’s a known fact. Many countries have similar conditions. But we respect the independent decisions of the court.” Asked whether the issue relating to the trial of war crimes suspects was discussed at the meeting, Hüseyin Muftuoglu said, “This issue was not discussed at the meeting. I didn’t raise it.” He, however, said all should look to the future instead of going back to the past, and mentioned that Turkey and Bangladesh are very close partners. “I’m a new ambassador here. I want to work very closely with Bangladesh here,” the Turkish envoy said. There was tension between Dhaka and Ankara for a while over Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s letter (December 23) to President Zillur Rahman calling for ‘clemency’ to the accused under trial in the International Crimes Tribunals for the ‘sake of peace in society’. Gul requested clemency for Ghulam Azam and the other accused saying they are too old to stand trial and apprehended that it might cause a civil war in Bangladesh.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
