The Turkish government plans to build 20 new prisons in 2023 and eight more in the next two years as more and more people end up behind bars in Turkey.
Data from the Ministry of Justice’s performance program shows that the ministry plans to spend more than TL 2.5 billion by the end of this year to increase capacity from the current 289,974. The ministry plans to open four more prisons in 2024 and four more in 2025, spending another eight billion TL, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported.
In 2002, when the AKP came to power, the prison population was less than 60,0000. Since 2006, the government has opened a total of 269 new prisons.
According to the Council of Europe’s 2021 crime statistics reports, Turkey has the second highest prison population in the world, with around 300,000 prisoners.
According to the ministry, 550,000 prisoners received psychosocial support last year. The satisfaction rate with the judiciary was 60 percent, and the implementation rate of the Human Rights Action Plan was 70 percent.
Source: Turkish Minute
