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content tagged with
Prisons
Ayşegül Başar
reports
‘The blind cell is the stark reality’
"You’re allowed outside to a different small yard for an hour and a half per day. The remaining 22 and a half hours are spent in this blind cell," says Ümit Çobanoğlu, who was recently released from a "high-security" prison.
26 February 2026
Ayşegül Başar
Ayşegül Başar
reports
Over 5,000 violations recorded in Marmara region prisons in 2025
The Human Rights Association warns that severe overcrowding and ill-treatment remain widespread.
25 February 2026
Ayşegül Başar
Report: Turkey's prison occupancy rate exceeds 133 percent
As of February, 407,266 people are incarcerated in 403 prisons, which have a combined official capacity of 304,956, according to CİSST.
24 February 2026
Lawyers' group raises health concerns over concrete plant near Bolu prison
ÖHD calls on the authorities to take preventive measures in the face of a "serious and foreseeble risk," while authorities maintain that the plant has the necessary permissions.
23 February 2026
Nalin Öztekin
reports
Children detained over Rojava protests subjected to strip searches, complaint reveals
A DEM Party MP filed an official complaint with the parliament’s Human Rights Investigation Commission, calling for an on-site investigation
19 February 2026
Nalin Öztekin
Prison occupancy in Turkey exceeds 130%
Prisons hold nearly 100,000 more people than their capacity, according to the Civil Society in the Penal System Association.
14 January 2026
Ayşegül Başar
reports
‘Wells of isolation’: Prisoners allege severe abuse in 'maximum-security' prisons
High-security prisons introduced in recent years in Turkey fail to meet Mandela Rules on prisoners’ right to sunlight and fresh air, according to human rights advocates.
7 January 2026
Ayşegül Başar
Nalin Öztekin
reports
‘There is no state inside prison, I saw people setting each other on fire’
Burak, who spent his childhood in state care dormitories and a closed prison, shared what it means to be "pushed into crime" through his own story. He answered our questions about what children and young people experience behind the walls of closed prisons.
23 December 2025
Nalin Öztekin
LGBTI+ groups demand investigation into suspicious death of trans prisoner
Poyraz, a trans man, was found hanging in his ward. His death was recorded as a suicide.
18 December 2025
Ayşegül Başar
reports
Release of Mehmet Sait Yıldırım blocked for second time after 30 years in prison
"Even if I die here, I will leave with my honor intact. I won’t leave in any other way. Everyone should know that the will of a revolutionary who has dedicated his entire life to the freedom of his people cannot be broken," says Yıldırım.
1 December 2025
Ayşegül Başar
Ayşegül Başar
reports
Two prisoners on hunger strike against ‘well-type’ prisons reportedly near death
Fifteen prisoners have been conducting an hunger strike against what they describe as extreme isolation in Turkey's new "high-security" prisons.
29 October 2025
Ayşegül Başar
Ayşegül Başar
reports
Turkey’s prison population has increased sevenfold under AKP rule
“There is a direct connection between prison overcrowding and the state’s penal policies,” says Hürrem Sönmez, secretary general of the İstanbul Bar Association
22 October 2025
Ayşegül Başar
Rights group documents over 26,000 violations in Turkey’s prisons in 2024
The Human Rights Association identified over 1,400 ill prisoners, including more than 300 classified as severely ill.
6 August 2025
Court rejects release of 32-year prisoner despite top court ruling
The prisoner’s lawyer likened his client’s situation to that of MP-elect Can Atalay, who was not released despite a Constitutional Court ruling, after lower courts refused to comply.
22 April 2025
Mustafa Eren
writes
AKP, criminalization and the Republic of 'Campus' Prisons
The AKP regime's prison policies are the product not only of a logic of punishment, but also of a practice of establishing a political and social order. Therefore, to think about prisons is to talk not only about prisoners, but also about the limits of our freedom.
15 April 2025
Mustafa Eren
Zeki Bayhan
writes
Seven windows of isolation
Life in isolation is based on infinite repetition. Every day is a copy of the one before. Imagine living the same day repeatedly for 10, 20, even 30 years. You begin to feel as though you’re suspended in time, your sense of time slowly eroding.
3 November 2024
Suspicious death in Mardin prison
A 32-year-old inmate who was recently imprisoned was reportedly hospitalized after a heart attack and was returned to the prison after treatment.
14 October 2024
Zerrin Sargut
reports
Rights violations in Van prisons
Reported violations range from restricted access to healthcare to delayed prisoner releases.
30 September 2024
Zerrin Sargut
Ayça Söylemez
reports
Imprisoned lawyer exposes use of disciplinary investigations to pressure political prisoners
Barkın Timtik explained unlawful practices regarding disciplinary investigations frequently opened against political prisoners.
22 September 2024
Ayça Söylemez
Ayça Söylemez
reports
Tap water ‘smells of bleach’ in Muğla prison
Prisoners serving aggravated life sentences have shared rights violations they experience.
18 September 2024
Ayça Söylemez
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İnanç Yıldız
reports
Elderly prisoner denied medication in Batman prison
The 72-year-old prisoner has been denied essential medication for two weeks due to the "unavailability" of the drugs.
29 August 2024
İnanç Yıldız
Turkey's human rights agency affirms prisoners' right to request non-smoking cells
An inmate had applied to the TİHEK after their request for a non-smoking cell was rejected by the prison administration.
22 August 2024
Suspicious death in Urfa prison as officials claim inmate 'burned himself'
A prisoner succumbed to his wounds after being severely burned. While the prison administration alleges that he burned himself, his family and lawyers question how he could have obtained a lighter in prison.
23 July 2024
PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan given new 3-month family visit ban
The authorities have not provided a reason for the ban. Öcalan has not been able to contact his family and lawyers for over 3 years.
22 July 2024
Prisoners end hunger strike after transfer from ‘well-type’ prison confirmed
The Type-Y prisons, dubbed as ‘well-type’ prisons by inmates, have been under scrutiny for exacerbating social isolation and mental health issues among inmates.
17 July 2024
DEM Party demands end to confinement of PKK leader
Imprisoned for 25 years, Abdullah Öcalan's last known contact with the outside world was three and a half years ago, when he had a disrupted phone call with his brother.
15 July 2024
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Public human rights agency documents overcrowding in prisons
Some prisoners sleep on the floor, the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey found during visits to two prisons.
8 July 2024
CİSST publishes prisons map of Turkey to enhance public data access
The map allows users to access detailed information about applications made to the association from prisons since 2014.
20 June 2024
Suspicious death in Iğdır prison
The prisoner reportedly took his own life. The autopsy report shows signs of physical violence.
27 May 2024
MP questions legal basis for penalizing relatives sending money to prisoners
Recently, a 75-year-old woman was found guilty of ‘financing terrorism’ due to sending money for her daughter’s needs in prison.
24 April 2024
Evrim Kepenek
reports
Two prisoners go on hunger strike in solidarity with ill and disabled inmate
Rights defenders have urged authorities to address rights violations occurring in "high-security" prisons, which they describe as "literal coffins" for prisoners suffering from illnesses.
22 April 2024
Evrim Kepenek
Ayça söylemez
reports
‘How can there be water problem in a recently constructed prison?’
Families of inmates held at the campus prison in Kırşehir described both the mistreatment suffered by prisoners and the difficulties they face during visits
26 March 2024
Ayça Söylemez
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