We have learned with sorrow that our citizen Ali Ağırdaş who was condemned to death by Saudi Arabian courts on the charges of drug trafficking was executed on 20 November.

We wish God’s mercy on our citizen Ağırdaş, convey our condolences to his family and wish patience and fortitude to all he has left behind.

Our Ministry and Turkish Embassy in Riyadh followed the judicial proceedings concerning our citizen from the beginning; intervened at every level for his penalty to be commuted; conveyed repeatedly our request to the Saudi authorities for the conversion of his capital punishment into imprisonment until the last days.

As a country which abolished the capital punishment we are all the more saddened and disappointed by the refusal of this request that we expressed on many occasions and at every level by a friendly country.