Divriği Prison to Become Djemevi

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A new decision has been made regarding the use of prison building in the district of Divriği in Sivas. As reported by Divriği newspaper, the Ministry of Justice has given the use of Divriği Prison, which was closed in 2007 due to a lack of inmates, to Divriği Hacı Bektaş Veli Association for 30 years.

The association will use the building as a djemevi* as well as a museum where the belongings left behind by old inmates will be exhibited.

Divriği Prison has not been in use for a long time. Launching a donation campaign, Hacı Bektaş Veli Association has undertaken the maintenance and repair works of the prison building.

In 2007, the Ministry of Justice decided to close prisons that were in bad condition. This decision applied to four old prisons located in four districts of Sivas, namely the Type K-1 prisons in the districts of Divriği, Suşehri, İmranlı and Kangal. The inmates held in these prisons were transferred to the Type K-2 prison in the district of Şebinkarahisar in Giresun and Type A-2 prison in the district of Şarkışla in Sivas.

It can set a precedent

Emphasizing that it is the first time that a public building has been given to the use of an Alevi institution, Divriği newspaper has written that it can set a precedent for the transfer of public and foundation properties to Alevi institutions. (HK/SD)

* Djemevi, which literally means a house of gathering in Turkish, is the place of worship of Alevis.

** Photographs: Divriği Newspaper / Yahya Kemal Bayar