Turkey’s prison population has risen by nearly 14,000 in just 50 days, reaching 416,927 as of June 2, a figure that now exceeds the populations of 34 provinces, the BirGün daily reported, citing data from the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses.
Prison overcrowding has surged to 121,927 inmates beyond official capacity, leaving no available space for new prisoners. The data also show that there are 18,727 women currently incarcerated, while juvenile facilities house 4,293 minors.
To address the overcrowding crisis in prisons, the government plans to build 11 new facilities across the country in 2025, allocating a budget of over 1 billion Turkish lira (approximately $37 million).
The severe overcrowding has persisted despite a prison reform bill passed into law last week granting early parole to many inmates. 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. 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.
According to AKP parliamentary group chair Abdullah Güler, approximately 19,800 inmates could benefit from provisions allowing conditional release for repeat offenders.
However, despite widespread criticism the new law excludes political prisoners, many of whom have been imprisoned on terrorism-related offenses. 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.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted followers of the movement inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, after corruption investigations in 2013 that implicated Erdoğan, then prime minister, along with his family and close allies. Dismissing the probes as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016. The crackdown intensified following a coup attempt in July 2016 that Erdoğan accused Gülen of orchestrating, an accusation the movement firmly denies, along with any involvement in terrorism.
According to a statement from Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç there were more than 13,251 people in prison in pretrial detention or convicted of terrorism in Gülen-linked trials as of July 2024, but those figures are thought to have increased over the past 10 months since the operations targeting Gülen followers continue unabated.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested across the country for participating in protests against the detention and subsequent arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
