death_penalty_new.qxd 02-08-27 12:57 Page 51 TURKEY 4.15 TURKEY188 RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS International Instruments Signed Ratified Article 6 of the ICCPR Yes No Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR No No Article 37 (a) to the CRC Yes Yes Protocol No.6 to the ECHR No No Protocol No.13 to the ECHR No No LEGAL FRAMEWORK Status: De facto abolitionist Scope: The death penalty is a legal punishment for crimes committed in peacetime and in wartime. The Constitution, which was amended on 3 October 2001 to reduce the scope of the death penalty, now provides that the death penalty can only be imposed for terrorist crimes and crimes committed in times of war or imminent threat of war189. The amended Penal Code envisages the death penalty for 12 crimes190. These are seven wartime crimes191 and five crimes against the state192. In addition, the Forests Law193 and the Law on the Interdiction and Pursuit of Smuggling194 also contain provisions that envisage the death penalty. 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 This entry was written with the assistance of the Delegation of Turkey to the OSCE who completed our questionnaire on the death penalty. Article 38 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey 1982, as amended by Law No.4709, 17 October 2001. Prior to the constitutional amendment, the death penalty had been envisaged for 13 crimes in the Turkish Penal Code, Law no. 765, 1926. The amendment only removed the death penalty for one crime, aggravated murder, from the Penal Code. The Turkish Military Code also envisages the death penalty for 12 crimes committed by military personnel in wartime or imminent threat of war. Articles 126, 127, 129, 131, 136 and 137 of the Penal Code. Articles 125, 146, 147, 149 and 156 of the Penal Code. Law no. 6831, 1956. Law no. 1918, 1932. 51