The number of people held in Turkish prisons has risen by more than 16,000 since April, pushing the total inmate population to 419,194 as of September 1, according to Justice Ministry data, far exceeding the system’s capacity by more than 114,000.
Turkey’s 395 prisons are officially designed to hold about 305,000 people, but now house over 419,000, creating an overcapacity rate of nearly 38 percent.
The prison population increased by 35,000 in just eight months, despite the closure of 10 facilities earlier this year. On January 1 there were 384,216 inmates across 405 prisons. By April, the figure had reached 403,060, and it has continued to climb through the summer.
The growing total reflects an ongoing crackdown on the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by the late Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, and people associated with the Kurdish political struggle for recognition, as well as arrests in the crackdown on main opposition-run municipalities that saw the jailing of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, in addition to 16 mayors.
Over the last decade Gülen and his movement, once praised by the government for their activities in education and interfaith dialogue, have faced accusations from the state of masterminding corruption probes in 2013 and a coup attempt in 2016. Gülen, who had been living in the United States since 1999, died in Pennsylvania in October 2024 at the age of 83.
The government designated Gülen and his followers as terrorists in 2016. They deny involvement in the coup or in terrorism but have been the subject of a harsh crackdown for nearly a decade.
The Turkish Ministry of Justice has announced the prison population as of 1 September 2025. The overcrowding problem persists and is getting worse. @DELF_Lawyers @ExtraditionLA @CoE_CPT https://t.co/he3HIgyq6t pic.twitter.com/kzNsxO75vE
— Ali Yıldız (@aliyildizlegal) September 4, 2025
The long-term growth trend in Turkey’s incarcerated population continues. In 2000 there were 49,512 inmates. By 2020, that number had grown to 266,831, reaching 341,497 in 2022, 403,060 in April 2025 and 419,194 in September 2025 — an eightfold increase over 25 years.
The 2025 budget allocates 18.5 billion Turkish lira for prison expenses, a 30 percent increase from 14.2 billion lira in 2024. The Ministry of Justice employs 63,214 staff in the prison system.
To address overcrowding, the government plans to build 11 new prisons by 2027, with an expected total cost of 23.5 billion lira. The 2025 budget includes 1.2 billion lira for this construction.