Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that prison authorities violated an inmate’s right to private life and freedom of communication by refusing to allow phone calls with his fiancée.
The ruling, dated September 16, 2025, and published Tuesday, concerns applicant İzzetdin Sert, a convicted felon held at Söke Prison in western Turkey’s Aydın province. Sert said he had been able to communicate with his fiancée, who was detained in another prison, only by letter for about 33 months and had requested permission to speak by phone.
Prison authorities rejected the request, citing regulations that allow telephone calls only with legally recognized relatives or spouses. After lower courts dismissed his complaints, Sert filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court, Turkey’s top court for constitutional rights complaints.
The court found that although prison regulations did not explicitly grant a right to telephone calls with fiancées, the authorities failed to properly assess the applicant’s individual circumstances, including the fact that the partners were both incarcerated and unable to meet in person. Relying solely on letters for an extended period placed a disproportionate burden on the relationship and therefore violated constitutional protections for private life and communication, the court said.
Rights groups in Turkey have repeatedly reported complaints related to communication restrictions, visitation limitations and administrative decisions affecting prisoners’ contact with family members and partners, with many disputes reaching higher courts through individual rights applications in recent years.
