The number of inmates in Turkish prisons outbids Turkey’s 20 provinces’ population, Birgun newspaper said on Friday.
The prison population in Turkey increased by 11.6 percent in 2021 to 297,860, it said.
The incarceration rate in Turkey has surged after the failed coup of July 2016. Ankara blamed Gulen Movement for attempting to overthrow the Turkish government and authorities launched a crackdown on the Islamic group’s followers, detaining over 290,000 and imprisoning around 30,000 people.
The inmate population in Turkish prisons is increasing at a rate of ten times the country’s population rate, Birgun said. The country’s population growth rate was 1.2 in 2021, it said.
Sentenced inmates made up 87.2 percent of the prison population, the newspaper said, citing Turkish penitentiary data. Detainees made up 12.8 percent, it said.
Turkey ranked second among European Council member states with the highest incarceration rates last year. According to the Annual Penal Statistics on Prison Population for 2021, Turkey has 325 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants. Russia topped the list with a very slight difference from Turkey with 328 inmates.
Turkey has 384 prisons nationwide and since 2016, the country has spent billions of liras to built new facilities.
Source:gerceknews
