Death penalty may be imposed for setting forest on fire in Turkey

The Turkish Ministry of Justice has begun drafting a bill to toughen the criminal penalties for setting forest on fire after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the need to introduce the death penalty for such a crime.

"We, as the Ministry of Justice, consider it useful to review the penalties provided for by the current laws and have begun relevant work", Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said, adding that the results would be announced later.