Ambassador 'withdrawal': Turkey does not inform BD

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque on Thursday said that Turkey government did not inform anything to Bangladesh government over withdrawal of their ambassador to Bangladesh.

 

The Foreign Secretary's comment came hours after Reuters published a report in this regard today.

 

'I do not know anything and the Turkish government does not inform Bangladesh in this regard,' Md Shahidul Haque, has said.

 

Earlier Reuters reported, following the execution of Motiur Rahman Nizami, head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, Turkey has withdrawn its ambassador to Bangladesh.

 

President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted in the Reuters report.

 

Bangladesh on Wednesday (May 11) hanged Motiur Rahman Nizami, head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for genocide, rape and orchestrating the massacre of intellectuals during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971.

 

Reuters report says, the International human rights groups say the procedures of the Bangladeshi tribunal that sentenced Nizami fell short of international standards.

 

The government rejects that, and the trials have been supported by many Bangladeshis.

 

In Turkey, there have been a handful of protests against the execution in recent days.

In its reaction, on the other hand, published in the Turkish Foreign Ministry website yesterday over the execution of Nizami, the Turkey government also expressed their concern.

 

'We have learned with sorrow that Motiur Rahman Nizami, who was one of the Leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Party and served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Industry of Bangladesh was executed at midnight by the decision of the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh,' the  statement added.

 

The Foreign Ministry statement also said, 'We strongly condemn the execution, since we do not believe that Nizami deserved such a punishment and wish God’s mercy upon the deceased.'

 

'For the protection of social harmony and peace in Bangladesh, we have in the last three years repeatedly called upon the leaders of Bangladesh at the highest level to suspend the execution of death sentences and conveyed our concerns that the practice of capital punishment may cause new tensions in the society due to its unjust nature,' the news release also said.

 

'As a country having abolished the capital punishment, Turkey believes that the injuries of the past cannot be healed through such methods and on the contrary, they will incite hatred and enmity among our Bangladeshi brothers. As always, Turkey will continue to stand by the brotherly people of Bangladesh and hopes that its social peace is preserved,' the Turkish Government reacted.