A court in the northwestern province of Kocaeli on Wednesday sentenced a man who killed his cancer patient son with the patient's consent to 15 years in jail.

In March, the man identified as Salim B. killed his 23-year-old son, suffering from colon cancer after the patient begged his father to kill him to stop the pain. Salim B. later shot his son in the head twice and turned himself in to the police.

"Doctors told us that they have already tried all the medicine but my son was throwing up all of them. He kept telling me 'kill me or make me better'. I had no other option, and shot him without him noticing," the father said in his plea.

The court reduced his sentence from aggravated life imprisonment to 15 years on the grounds of unjust provocation and his good conduct during the hearings.

Euthanasia is illegal in Turkey, and is a controversial topic in the country due to religious sensitivities.