İZMİR - The isolation deepened with the new type of prisons built after the conspiracy against PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan. HDP PM member Hacay Yılmaz, who has been in all types of prisons, said: "These new types aim to make the prisoners incapable of thinking. It would not be wrong to say that every type S is an Imrali."

 

Turkey is one of the countries with the highest number of prisoners in the world. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Justice, there are currently 314,502 prisoners in prisons. A significant part of this figure consists of those arrested for their thoughts. As the number of prisoners increases, new prisons with different names are being built. At the same time, violations of rights are on the rise. Different types were added to the prisons built as Type A between 1950-1960.

 

After PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan was brought to Turkey on February 15, 1999, Type F prisons began to be built. Type F prisons were followed by S and Y type prisons, respectively. As the names changed, the isolation and rights violations against the prisoners, which started to be implemented in İmralı, also increased.

 

F TYPES

 

The first studies on types F started with the 1997 July Circular. In this circular, it was implicitly stated that small room practices would be adopted; however, this circular was withdrawn after the condemnation of human rights and legal organizations. In 2000, the construction of cell-type prisons, which would later be called type F prisons, began in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Kocaeli.

 

After this secret preparation, prisoners were asked to be transferred from type E prisons to types F; however, hunger strikes and death fasts were started in 20 prisons on October 20, 2000 to resist the type F cell system and the isolation. The government of the period, which did not listen to these actions and the condemnation of the society, launched a large-scale attack on the prisons on December 19, 2000 under the name of "Return to Life ''. 30 prisoners lost their lives and hundreds more were injured in attacks on prisons with heavy weapons. After the massacre, the prisoners were sent to the types F made in Sincan, Kırıklar, Kandıra and Silivri. Subsequently, new types F were built in many regions of Turkey.

 

RESISTANCE AGAINST VIOLATIONS

 

The prisoners were separated from each other in 3-person cells with the transition to types F, and their communication and organization were destroyed. After this date, while the pressure especially on political prisoners increased, the lives of the prisoners were made difficult by the regulations and laws that changed frequently.

 

The prisoners began to be deprived of many rights such as family visits, telephone, sports, letters and books. Resistance began in many prisons against violations of rights. The prisoners carried out hunger strikes and death fasts in dozens of prisons to deprive them of the rights granted to them by national and international laws and conventions. Again, many prisoners ended their lives against the gross human rights violations and isolation in prisons.

 

S TYPES

 

After the types F, the types S came to the fore. AKP built 5 prisons in Antalya, Manavgat, Iğdır, Bodrum and Samsun in 2021. In types S, whose capacity is increased compared to types F, there are many single-person cells as well as 3-person wards. This imposes isolation on prisoners. Types S are usually installed in areas of cities that are difficult to access; thus, the isolation of the prisoners is further deepened.

 

Y TYPES

 

As there were no letters left in the alphabet, types Y came to the fore in 2022. Three type Y prisons were established, namely Antalya Type Y Closed Prison, Eregli No. 1 Type Y Closed Prison, and Eregli No. 2 Type Y Closed Prison. These 3-storey prisons are designed in such a way that one prisoner stays on each floor and the prisoners cannot see each other. Condemnations against these prisons, where prisoners who have been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment will be held, continue. Human rights defenders warn that people who stay here for a long time can suffer from various psychological illnesses, including loss of self-confidence and impaired social skills.

 

'ISOLATION STARTED IN IMRALI'

 

Stating that shortly after the conspiracy against PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, the state accelerated the transition from ward-type prisons to type F prisons, Yılmaz said, "Actually, the policy of prisons since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey was aimed at torture, isolation and depersonalization. These policies multiplied On September 12, in the 1990s. Massacres took place in prisons to switch to types F. It is intensified in all prisons."

 

'ISOLATION IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY'

 

Noting that the prisoners in types F wanted to be isolated from life, Yılmaz said: "The state saw this point as "inadequate" and started to build the S and Y types. The prisoners are wanted to be sentenced to death in these two types of prisons. Actually, the state implements policies such as 'how much can the prisons be used for torture, depersonalize and murder'. The prisoners have no chance to connect any person with the new prisons. These new types of prisons have the aim to isolate the prisoners completely and make them unable to think. Humans are social creatures and need to speak. In prisons, such an isolation is sought that the prisoners are asked to forget words and life. In fact, isolation is a crime against humanity in every way." 

 

EVERY PRISONS ARE IMRALI IN TURKEY

 

Emphasizing the desire to deepen the isolation in Imrali with S and Y types, Yılmaz continued: "So it would not be wrong to say that every S type is an Imrali now. It is an isolation and the isolation in Imrali. S types are the last example of this. S types are the new and new ones. Imrali people are being formed. It is everyone's responsibility to oppose these prisons."

 

MA / Tolga Guney

 

Tomorrow: the same determination from the first to the last action