Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said in a written statement that as of Oct. 12, 2016, there were 194,973 inmates in 372 Turkish prisons.
In response to a question submitted to Parliament by Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Minister Bozdağ stated that the current prisons have a capacity of 189,269 and that Turkey will build 175 new prisons in 2017.
Turkey decided to release 38,000 convicts in August in order to make room for alleged coup plotters as the government had initiated an unprecedented purge immediately after a failed coup on July 15. Families and lawyers of the arrestees have complained about overcrowding given the fact that more than 40,000 people have been imprisoned since July 15 alone. (Turkey Purge)