Turkey plans to build 11 new prisons by 2027 in a move critics say reflects deepening human rights issues and a failure to address the root causes of overcrowding, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported.
The first phase of construction will include facilities in the cities of Siirt, Uşak, Bartın and Niğde.
Turkey’s prison population has surged under the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with the number of inmates rising from 59,429 in 2002 to over 356.865 as of September 2024. Human rights groups have raised alarms about severe overcrowding, with a nearly 20 percent overcapacity rate. Critics argue the system is disproportionately filled with political prisoners, journalists and activists arrested under sweeping counterterrorism laws.
In addition 759 children under the age of 6 live with their mothers in prison, among a total of 16,039 incarcerated women across the country, according to statistics from the Civil Society in the Penal System Association (CISST).
Overcrowding has led to dire conditions in many prisons, including insufficient access to healthcare, limited living space and inadequate sanitation. Human rights advocates warn that these conditions increase the risk of disease outbreaks, mental health crises and human rights violations, particularly for vulnerable groups such as women, children and political prisoners.
Rights advocates have linked Turkey’s prison overcrowding to the mass arrests following a failed 2016 coup attempt, which saw tens of thousands jailed on terrorism charges. Many international watchdogs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have accused Turkey of silencing dissent and curbing free expression.
Following the abortive putsch, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight. More than 130,000 public servants, including 4,156 judges and prosecutors, as well as 24,706 members of the armed forces were summarily removed from their jobs for alleged membership in or relationships with “terrorist organizations” by emergency decree-laws subject to neither judicial nor parliamentary scrutiny.