Turkey has not compromised over its laws even after the July 15 coup attempt, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, Anadolu reported.
Speaking at a Martyrs' Memorial Day ceremony at the presidential complex in Ankara to commemorate victims of the failed coup, Erdogan said: "Even during the coup attempt process, we have not made the slightest compromise with the law. Every step we have taken, every decision we have made, every implementation we have launched, it has been under the constitution [and the country’s] laws."
He said the post-coup attempt measures being carried out in the country's institutions such as the parliament, National Security Council, council of ministers and others ministries were in line with the law.
"If deficiencies [and] mistakes stemmed from this extraordinary period occur, then a legal path is available," Erdogan said.
During his speech, the president also shared latest figures of the victims in the failed coup.
“On the night of July 15, a total of 237 people, including 170 civilians, 62 police officers and five soldiers were martyred. As of today, 2,191 people were injured.
“We have an obligation to establish justice. What does everybody say? Death penalty, death penalty, death penalty. However, this is a democratic, constitutional state governed by a parliamentary system,” Erdogan said.
The president said the ruling government needs to listen to people’s demand for the death penalty in the parliament. The parliament will discuss the issue and everybody has to abide by that last decision, he added.
Erdogan also harshly criticized some countries which they did not offer any condolences over the failed coup and its many victims.
“Those countries that do not worry about Turkey’s future are not our friends,” he said.
Turkey's government has repeatedly said the deadly coup attempt, which martyred more than 230 people and injured nearly 2,200 others, was organized by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen's followers and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
Gulen is also accused of running a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.