As a new prison reform bill passed into law last week has granted early parole to many inmates in Turkey, the families of political prisoners have criticized authorities for excluding their loved ones, who remain in desperate conditions behind bars.
The legislation, introduced by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), is part of the government’s broader 10th Judicial Reform Package and includes amendments to nine separate laws. It aims to reduce overcrowding and toughen enforcement, requiring actual prison time for sentences under two years in cases deemed to have caused public outrage.
The law also expands eligibility for house arrest, particularly for women, elderly inmates and people with serious health conditions. According to AKP parliamentary group chair Abdullah Güler, approximately 19,800 inmates could benefit from provisions allowing conditional release for repeat offenders. An additional 1,500 to 2,000 prisoners may qualify for home detention on medical or humanitarian grounds.
The legislation significantly extends the terms for house arrest: Prisoners over the age of 70 could serve up to four years at home, those over 75 up to five years and those over 80 up to six years. The limit for women, minors and inmates over 65 would increase from one year to three years.
Ever since the bill was introduced it has come under fire for failing to address the plight of political prisoners.
Journalist Sevinç Özarslan has shared a series of tweets on X, giving statements from families of those political prisoners who are sick, elderly or pregnant but were not allowed to benefit from early parole.
“My husband was not released, and neither was an elderly man in my husband’s cell, despite his suffering from heart disease,” said Buket Turan, the wife of inmate Emre Turhan. “So who was released thanks to this reform bill? Apparently not all the sick and elderly.”
Emre Turan has been imprisoned since 2023 for alleged links to the Gülen movement. He suffers from cancer caused by ulcerative colitis.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as some of his family members and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following an abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Süeda Güngör, the daughter of 72-year-old İbrahim Güngör, who suffers from advanced Alzheimer’s, has also pleaded for the release of her father.
Ibrahim Güngör, sentenced to over eight years, was arrested on December 14, 2024 and sent to prison in İzmir after Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld his conviction.
Charges against Güngor include hosting religious gatherings with members of the Gülen movement, encouraging participation in movement activities and collecting donations for students. He was director of student affairs at İzmir Gediz University, a Gülen-linked institution that was closed under a government decree after a 2016 coup attempt.
“My father is unable to even talk to us during visitation,” Sueda Güngör said. “What do you want from my sick father? Keeping him in prison is not making Turkey a safer country!”
Özarslan also cited specific cases, raising public awareness of their circumstances.
“Homemaker Özlem Düzenli was imprisoned a month ago with her six-month-old baby,” said Özarslan. “The baby is growing up in prison because his mother, who never hurt anybody, is incarcerated. When will political prisoners be allowed to benefit from the reform law?”
Özlem Düzenli, who was previously sentenced to almost seven years in prison over alleged links to the movement, was arrested while attempting to flee to Greece. Her little boy has been very sick in prison, and the mother said prison authorities have been indifferent to their medical needs.
“Homemaker Hatice Doğru was arrested when she was five months’ pregnant. While many inmates convicted of violent crimes have been released, this soon-to-be mother is still in prison,” said Özarslan.
Doğru, 32, was one of 77 people to be arrested over alleged links to the movement last month in Gaziantep. In addition to her pregnancy, she suffers from cardiac arrhythmia and is being held in a crowded women’s ward with around 30 other detainees. Poor ventilation and high temperatures in the cell as well as limited access to medical facilities have heightened concerns among her family about the risk of miscarriage or other health complications.
“Nurcan and Abdülkadir Arslan, the parents of six children, including quintuplets, have been in prison for almost two years. Their children live in a village with their relatives and are waiting for their parents to come back home. The new law has excluded their parents,” tweeted Özarslan.
Abdülkadir Arslan and Nurcan Arslan were arrested on October 1, 2023. The Edirne Criminal Court of Peace had handed down a nine-year sentence to Abdülkadir Arslan, while Nurcan Arslan was sentenced to more than six years in prison. Abdülkadir Arslan had worked at a private education center linked to the Gülen movement. His wife was a homemaker.
The new legislation excludes those individuals who were imprisoned on terrorism-related offenses. However, Turkey’s counterterrorism law has been criticized for its broad definition of terrorism and for being used to stifle dissent and suppress freedom of expression.
A surge in inmate numbers has been partly fueled by ongoing crackdowns, including arrests related to protests over the imprisonment of İstanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and the continued persecution of people affiliated with the faith-based Gülen movement.
