Merkel rules out Turkish vote in Germany on death penalty

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on May 9 ruled out any participation on German soil in a potential Turkish referendum on bringing back the death penalty in the country.

Immediately after winning the April 16 referendum on constitutional amendments, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan mooted a second referendum on reinstating capital punishment, which would mean an end to the country's EU membership prospects.

Merkel said Berlin would not make it possible for the 1.4 million Turkish voters living in Germany to participate if the referendum were to be held.   
  
"We will not give permission for something we are not obligated to do, and whose content we absolutely reject, for example, the death penalty," she told public broadcaster WDR.    
 
Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 as a key pillar of its bid to join the EU.

Previously, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Martin Schulz, had also stated that Berlin would not let Turkish expats vote in the potential referendum on reinstating capital punishment.

"If the Turkish government really does hold a referendum on reinstating the death penalty, it must be clear that such a vote cannot take place among the Turks living in Germany," Schulz told German Der Spiegel magazine.

"We cannot allow voting in Germany that contradicts our values and our constitution," he added.
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had also stated that the move would be "synonymous with the end of [Turkey's] European dream" and mark the end of decades of negotiations to enter the European Union.

There have been frequent calls for capital punishment to be reinstated in Turkey, following its abolition in 2004 as part of reforms aimed at securing EU membership,...