Ill prisoner Turgay Deniz dies shortly after release

Photo provided to Evrensel by Deniz family.

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Turgay Deniz, 39, a prisoner with severe tuberculosis, has lost his life at an İstanbul hospital, where he was taken last month after he fell ill.

Deniz had been using a respiratory assist device for 12 years as his left lung was "dysfunctional" and he had lesions on his right lung, according to a report by Süreyyapaşa Chest Diseases Hospital. He was still kept in prison.

About a month ago, Deniz was taken to Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital without his family's knowledge.

He underwent surgery, but his health continued to worsen. Only then Deniz was released from prison for treatment and the prison administration informed his family.

Deniz's brother, Bazer Deniz, told Evrensel newspaper that the prison administration had called them only after the doctors said he had no chance to survive.

"We didn't know that. We went to the hospital with joy. We thought we would take him home. We didn't know that his condition was serious," he said.

"He underwent surgery 20 years ago. His condition was known. He didn't even have a final conviction. They arrested him in 2018, but later he was released," he said.

His brother was arrested shortly in 2018 and arrested again in February 2021, said Baver Deniz.

"When he was exiled to the Bandırma Prison, he told my mom, 'Mom, they are intentionally sending me to die.' They did," he added.

According to a Human rights Association (İHD) report in March 2021, there were at least 1,605 ill prisoners in Turkey, with 604 of them in serious condition. Turgay Deniz was on the list of seriously ill prisoners.

In the last year alone, 59 prisoners lost their lives in prison or shortly after their sentences were postponed. (RT/VK)