An inmate at Ankara’s Sincan Prison died of a heart attack on Thursday, with his body discovered lifeless under a running hot shower, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a deputy from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), revealed on social media.
Gergerlioğlu said Ercüment Aktolga had a heart attack and died in the shower. He added that Aktolga’s body was found severely burned as hot water had been pouring over him for hours.
He said the inmate had been held in a cell for 28 people but was crowded with 68 occupants.
Only last month media reports documented worsening conditions in Sincan Prison, with claims of overcrowding, denied access to healthcare and arbitrary treatment by prison authorities.
The facility, one of Turkey’s largest penal institutions, houses a mix of criminal convicts and political prisoners.
Relatives say rights violations have escalated, particularly in wards where people imprisoned by decree laws issued during a state of emergency following a failed coup in 2016 (KHKs) are held. More than 130,000 civil servants were fired and imprisoned under the KHKs, often without clear evidence or timely trials.
E3, one of three KHK-designated wards, was recently emptied to accommodate criminal detainees. Its inmates were merged into the neighboring E2 and E4 wards, pushing occupancy from 24 to at least 34 prisoners per unit, according to a family member who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.
The overcrowding in Turkey’s prisons has been a growing issue since 2005, with prison populations swelling annually. According to Ministry of Justice data, Turkey’s prisons now operate at 20 percent overcapacity, with the country leading Europe in both total prison population and incarceration rates per capita.
