A former Istanbul city planner convicted in a case tied to mass anti-government protests fainted and struck his head inside a high-security prison on Sunday, three days after being returned from hospital treatment for an acute flare-up of his multiple sclerosis.
According to the TR724 news website, Tayfun Kahraman’s wife, Meriç Kahraman, said the incident occurred during a routine daytime prisoner count at the high-security Silivri Prison outside Istanbul, when he lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on the ground. She said he suffered a cut to his forehead and abrasions to his hand and was taken to a hospital on Sunday, where his injuries were bandaged before he was returned to prison. Continued swelling and bruising later led doctors to fit his hand with a splint, she added.
Kahraman’s wife and supporters said his symptoms of multiple sclerosis had intensified in recent months in prison, leading to repeated hospital visits before his admission on January 2, when doctors administered a high-dose corticosteroid treatment. He was returned to prison on January 15. His family argues that regular neurological monitoring and follow-up care are difficult to maintain in prison conditions.
Kahraman was among eight defendants convicted in April 2022 of aiding an attempt to overthrow the government in connection with the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
The Gezi Park protests, which began over an urban development plan in central İstanbul in the summer of 2013 and spread to other cities in Turkey, posed a serious challenge to the rule of then-prime minister and current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They were violently suppressed by the government of Erdoğan, who later labelled the protests as a “coup attempt” against him.
Kahraman received an 18-year sentence, upheld on appeal in December 2022 by the Istanbul Regional Court and in September 2023 by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals.
The Constitutional Court ruled on July 31, 2025, that Kahraman’s right to a fair trial had been violated and said he should be retried. On November 6 the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court rejected the retrial order, accusing the Constitutional Court of acting outside its jurisdiction and denying both the retrial and the request for release.
In statements shared on X, Meriç Kahraman said her husband’s medical records, hospital reports and documentation related to the January 18 fall have been submitted to the Constitutional Court in a renewed application. She called on authorities to enforce the ruling and release him, saying his continued arrest puts his life in danger.
The case has renewed attention on the treatment of detainees jailed over politically sensitive cases in Turkey. Human rights groups have long raised concerns about prison conditions, access to adequate medical care, and the continued detention of individuals despite court rulings, particularly in cases linked to dissent and protest movements.
