A chronically ill inmate in a prison in Turkey’s İzmir province has died due to alleged negligence, the BirGün daily reported.
Kadir Coşkun, 65, was arrested and sent to a minimum security prison on March 12 after being sentenced to five months for a traffic accident. His family revealed that Coşkun suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition caused by lung damage. When they last saw him on March 24, he appeared fine.
However, his health had drastically changed a week later. Tolga Coşkun, his son, said, “While my father was still in prison, some of his fellow inmates contacted us, saying his health had worsened. There was no doctor at the prison, and no medical intervention was provided as his condition deteriorated.”
Coşkun was scheduled to leave prison on furlough for Eid on March 31, but when his son arrived to pick him up, he found his father barely able to walk and losing consciousness. “There was no doctor present, and no one had called an ambulance, so I had to drive my dad to the hospital. They performed chest compressions for 47 minutes, but he couldn’t be saved. We believe the prison is responsible for his death due to negligence, although they deny any wrongdoing,” said Tolga Coşkun.
The family announced they would be filing an official complaint against the prison authorities, citing the absence of a doctor, the lack of immediate medical intervention and the failure to call for an ambulance.
Since 2002 more than 5,300 inmate deaths have been reported in Turkish prisons, including 709 in the first 11 months of 2024 alone.
Human rights advocates warn that the growing number of deaths in custody, particularly among ailing prisoners, underscores the urgent need for systemic reform and independent oversight within Turkey’s prison system.
