Can Turkey really reinstate the death penalty after the failed coup attempt? According to the European Union and many politicians, jurists and human rights activists, the answer is no. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, however, insist capital punishment could be brought back.

Since the failed putsch on July 15, both leaders have repeatedly spoken in favor of capital punishment, be it in media interviews or in speeches to angry crowds that continue to demonstrate in the streets. Immediately after the putsch, Yildirim was quick to reassure a crowd chanting slogans to restore the death penalty in the parliament's courtyard. "Your message has been taken. We'll do what is necessary." Meanwhile, Erdogan said he would readily approve any bill parliament that might pass to restore capital punishment. "In democracies, people have the say, and the people want the death penalty back," he told Germany's ARD television.

Top EU officials, meanwhile, have issued a series of warnings that the death penalty is a thick red line, the violation of which will torpedo Turkey's already struggling membership bid. "If Turkey should bring back the death penalty, we will immediately stop the negotiation process," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said, stressing that a country recognizing capital punishment has no place in the EU. European Parliament President Martin Schulz was similarly blunt, saying that restitution of the death penalty would mean an end to Turkey's accession process.

Ankara took the warnings as a threat and hit back. The EU is free to express its position, "but if they use a threatening tone against Turkey, this will backfire," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Haberturk channel. "Juncker is not Turkey's boss."