Two opposition lawmakers have asked Turkey’s justice minister to investigate allegations that prisoners at a lower-security prison in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır are sleeping on floors, have severely limited access to showers and are being housed in converted tobacco-factory hangars with inadequate fire protection, the Evrensel daily reported.
Ceylan Akça Cupolo of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and Sezgin Tanrıkulu of the New Party raised the conditions at the Diyarbakır Open Prison in separate parliamentary questions to Justice Minister Akın Gürlek. The allegations also include delayed access to medical care, lice infestations, poor food and verbal or physical mistreatment by prison guards.
The claims concern an annex in Diyarbakır’s Kayapınar district made up of hangars at a former factory operated by TEKEL, Turkey’s former state tobacco monopoly. According to the allegations cited by Cupolo, some 800 inmates are housed at the prison, with as many as 150 people staying in some of the hangars.
Cupolo said overcrowding had left about 50 prisoners in some sections sleeping on the floor because of a lack of beds. Prisoners were also reportedly allowed to shower only once a month, contributing to lice infestations and serious hygiene problems.
The lawmaker said prisoners who became ill were allegedly not taken promptly to the infirmary or a hospital and that transfers to hospitals sometimes occurred only after prisoners fainted or suffered other serious medical episodes. Complaints cited in her parliamentary question also concerned poor-quality food, inadequate food storage during the summer and shortages of basic supplies at the prison canteen.
Cupolo also raised allegations that prison guards subjected inmates to verbal or physical mistreatment and threatened those who objected to conditions with transfer to a closed prison, where restrictions are tighter. She asked Gürlek whether authorities had investigated the allegations and if any administrative or criminal proceedings had been opened against prison personnel.
Both Cupolo and Tanrıkulu raised concerns about fire safety at the converted hangars. Cupolo said hundreds of prisoners were reportedly housed in buildings without emergency exits or fire escapes and asked whether the annex had fire alarms, automatic fire-suppression systems and an evacuation plan.
Tanrıkulu, a Diyarbakır lawmaker who previously represented the Republican People’s Party (CHP) before joining the New Party, submitted 21 questions to Gürlek about conditions at the prison. Turkey’s parliament currently lists Tanrıkulu as a New Party lawmaker.
Tanrıkulu asked the ministry to disclose how many prisoners were being held at the facility as of August 31, how many were housed in the former TEKEL hangars and whether any sections were operating above capacity. He also sought information on the number of beds and bunks and the number of prisoners forced to sleep without them.
He asked when the converted hangars were last inspected for structural, earthquake and fire safety and whether the inspection reports would be made public. Tanrıkulu also called for an unannounced inspection of the prison to assess the allegations concerning accommodation, hygiene, healthcare, food and safety.
The allegations come as Turkey’s prison system is operating well above its official capacity. Figures published by the Directorate General of Prisons and Detention Houses on August 3 showed 433,520 people held in 402 prisons designed for 304,278, exceeding capacity by about 129,000.
