MP submits parliamentary question after Kurdish prisoner heart attack
Following the heart attack of seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Diyarbakır MP Serhat Eren submitted a parliamentary question on the delayed release and health of the 75-year-old, who has been eligible for conditional release since Feb. 27, 2025, when he initially completed his sentence.
The heart attack took place after a particularly tense meeting with the prison’s Administrative and Monitoring Board this week, where they delayed the prisoner’s release for the fourth time — now for another three months. Yıldırım accused the board of attempting to execute a de-facto death penalty through the delay.
After the meeting, Yıldırım returned to his cell and had a heart attack.
Seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım suffers heart attack
Based on these events, Eren requested an investigation on whether there was a connection between the practices held in the board meeting and the heart attack. Additionally, the MP asked for clarification on what criteria the board uses to decide releases and what prevents it from acting like "parallel courts.”
The inquiry also asked about the alleged attempt to handcuff Yıldırım to his hospital bed.
Yıldırım was detained in 1993 on allegations of being a member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995. He has been imprisoned for about 33 years. During the failed Kurdish peace process between 2013 and 2015, he was among five prisoners selected at the request of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to form a "secretariat" to be involved in the process. Yıldırım is currently held at İzmir Kırıklar No. 1 F-Type Prison.
Yıldırım suffers from heart disease, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arteriosclerosis, a cervical disc hernia, lung problems and has difficulty speaking, which obstruct his daily activities.
He was sent to İzmir City Hospital after his recent heart attack where they placed two stents on his heart. Yıldırım’s lawyer reported that he is now in good condition.
Yıldırım’s advocates have argued that he will not be able to receive the regular treatment his health conditions require while inside prison. Meanwhile, the board has justified Yıldırım’s continued detention on account of a lack of “good behavior” and “remorse” over his actions.
In the inquiry Eren asked Justice Minister Gürlek the following six questions:
- Has an investigation been launched regarding the allegations that an imposition of remorse was forced upon prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım at the August 24, 2026 meeting of the Administrative and Monitoring Board and that this pressure triggered the prisoner to suffer a heart attack?
- Are there any measures taken by your Ministry to prevent Administrative and Monitoring Boards from acting like parallel courts for the purpose of extending prisoners' sentence execution periods or blocking their releases on arbitrary grounds?
- What rational, conscientious, and legally sound justifications exist for postponing the release of a patient who suffered a severe heart attack, has just survived a life-threatening danger, and is receiving treatment in the coronary intensive care unit by another three months?
- Is the attempt to handcuff the prisoner to the bed not explicitly contrary to national legislation, patient rights, and the Istanbul Protocol? Will an administrative investigation be opened regarding the gendarmerie personnel who gave this instruction?
- Did the vital risk of a prisoner who suffered a heart attack not increase during the time elapsed while being transferred on the grounds of the absence of a prisoner ward? Who bears responsibility for these delays experienced due to the inadequacy of prisoner wards in hospitals in the region?
- Considering Mehmet Sait Yıldırım's current health condition, the stents placed in his heart, and the severe crisis he suffered, since it is clear that he cannot maintain his life on his own under prison conditions, will initiatives be taken to obtain a Forensic Medicine Institute report toward the postponement of his sentence execution?
(VC/İK)
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