Forty-seven percent of Bulgarian citizens oppose a hypothetical re-introduction of the death penalty in the country, while 33% support it, according to a new survey conducted by Gallup International.

“This result may have  possibly been influenced by the recent events in Turkey,” Gallup International commented on its website.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said on several occasions after the failed coup attempt on July 15 that he would endorse the return of the death penalty if the public and parliament in Turkey backed the move.

The supporters of reinstating the death penalty in Bulgaria were predominantly elderly people, while respondents with higher education were firmly against it. The survey was conducted among 813 respondents in all of Bulgaria’s 28 regions from July 28 to August 4.

According to Gallup International, the share of supporters of the return of the death penalty indicates that the repressive attitudes in the Bulgarian society do exist but they are not huge – “something which has already been demonstrated in a recent poll on issues related to security and law enforcement in Bulgaria” conducted by the polling agency.   

The Bulgarian parliament officially abolished the death penalty in December 1998, replacing it with life imprisonment.