A Kurdish man who spent 30 years in prison died of colon cancer just months after his release, exemplifying what human rights advocates describe as systematic medical neglect in the country’s prison system.
Mustafa Karatepe was arrested in January 1995 and sentenced to life for alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He was diagnosed with colon cancer in September 2024, according to Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM Party) MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who revealed the details on social media.
Gergerlioğlu said the cancer diagnosis came too late due to delayed medical examinations in prison and that Karatepe never received adequate treatment. He lost more than 20 kilograms and eventually stopped eating, yet prison authorities denied him a proper diet and failed to take him to the hospital when necessary for care.
Despite multiple appeals from Karatepe’s family and lawyers requesting his release for proper medical treatment, prison authorities repeatedly refused. He was finally released in January 2025, but by then his cancer had progressed to a critical stage. Karatepe died on August 30.
The Free Lawyers Association (ÖHD) called Karatepe’s death “one of the most tragic examples of the ongoing reality of seriously ill prisoners in Turkish prisons.” In a statement following his death, the organization said releases that occur only when prisoners are near death demonstrate that the state “consciously violates the right to life and access to medical care for sick prisoners.”
“This approach effectively grants prisoners only the ‘right to die’ when treatment has become impossible,” the ÖHD said, calling on authorities to respect human rights in prisons in order to protect democracy and the rule of law.
Turkish authorities have long faced criticism from rights groups for systematically disregarding prisoners’ health needs. Human rights organizations report dozens of sick prisoner deaths annually, either while incarcerated or shortly after release when their illnesses have reached end-stage. According to Ministry of Justice data provided in response to a parliamentary inquiry, Turkey recorded more than 700 prison deaths in 2024 alone.
