Son of hanged Bangladeshi politician lauds Erdogan, Turkey

By Tugrul Cam and Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – Turkey’s decision to pull its ambassador from Bangladesh after a party leader was put to death there should be emulated by other Muslim nations, according to the leader’s son.

"The overwhelming sympathy and reaction of the people is heartwarming, especially the reaction of President Tayyip Erdogan,” Mohammad Nakibur Rahman said while speaking to Anadolu Agency, calling Erdogan’s reaction "unprecedented".

Turkey asked its ambassador, Devrim Ozturk, to return to Ankara in the aftermath of the hanging of senior Jamaat-e-Islami party leader, Motiur Rahman Nizami, in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

"We hope that some other Muslim countries do the same thing," Rahman said.

"And the way the Turkish people reacted -- from the bottom of our hearts, from the people of Bangladesh, we are definitely, definitely grateful," he added, referring to protests in Istanbul and Ankara after his father was executed.

"We hope and pray that the rest of the Muslim world will follow suit, and soon they will be united against all the oppression, not just in Bangladesh, the oppression that’s going on in Egypt, the oppression that’s going on in Syria, Palestine, Myanmar, all over the world," he added.

Nizami was sentenced to death in October 2014 after being found guilty of committing wartime atrocities including murder, rape, looting and collaborating with the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971.

Opposition parties and international organizations criticized the legal process that resulted in Nizami’s death, with Human Rights Watch expressing concerns over whether the accused received fair trials.

And the US State Department said that despite improvements to the tribunal process more work needs to be done to "ensure these proceedings meet domestic and international obligations.

"Until these obligations can be consistently met, we have concerns about proceeding with executions," it said shortly after the capital penalty was carried out.

Three other individuals have been sentenced to death, according to Rahman, who urged a greater reaction to prevent the sentences from being carried out.

“Hopefully this awareness will give conscience to the government, and they will not go ahead with the next three executions,” he said. "Inshallah [Allah willing] Allah has a better plan."