Sütun 1
Sütun 2
Sütun 3
Medya News
Daily News
Breaking News
Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • All News
  • Opinion
  • Kurdistan
  • Women
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
  • INTERVIEW
  • More
    • SPECIAL REPORTS
    • ECOLOGY
    • WORLD
    • AUDIO ARTICLES
    • JOURNALISM
    • ECONOMY
    • CULTURE & ART
    • LONG READS
    • NEWSLETTER
    • DAILY NEWS
MULTIMEDIA
PODCAST
LIVE BLOG
  • Home
  • All News
  • Opinion
  • Kurdistan
  • Women
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
  • INTERVIEW
  • More
    • SPECIAL REPORTS
    • ECOLOGY
    • WORLD
    • AUDIO ARTICLES
    • JOURNALISM
    • ECONOMY
    • CULTURE & ART
    • LONG READS
    • NEWSLETTER
    • DAILY NEWS
MULTIMEDIA
PODCAST
No Result
View All Result
Medya News

Podcast: How Turkey’s F-type prison system targets Kurds, political activists

Denis O’Hearn speaks to Medya News’ Matt Broomfield to share his insights on how Turkey’s network of F-type prisons relates to the continued detention of Kurdish political leader Abdullah Öcalan, and what his research can tell us about both the Turkish detention regime and resistance to that regime.

8:41 am 20/11/2023
A A
Podcast: How Turkey’s F-type prison system targets Kurds, political activists
Share post

https://medyanews.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/241023-MATT-PODCAST-2717-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3

Denis O’Hearn is a professor at the University of Texas who has conducted extensive research not only on Turkey’s network of F-type prisons, where primarily political and Kurdish prisoners are held in conditions of isolation, but also on other carceral detention regimes throughout the world, including in the US and Ireland. He spoke to Medya News’ Matt Broomfield to share his insights on how this system relates to the continued detention of Kurdish political leader Abdullah Öcalan, and what his research can tell us about both the Turkish detention regime and resistance to that regime.

What are the particular features of Turkey’s carceral system that make it worth highlighting?

It’s only recently that Turkey has become such a vast carceral system, following on the rise of mass detention in the US and some other places. In particular, the move from simple detention to isolated imprisonment has been an important feature of the Turkish system. Turkey now has 400 prisoners per 100,000 people. Turkey is now the second-highest imprisoning country in the OECD, behind the US, which since the 1980s has been by far the world leader in putting people in prison.

Turkey began a project of political imprisonment, of left-wing prisoners, and not necessarily against the Kurds. But of course there has been, since 2003, this massive turn toward political imprisonment. The overwhelming number of prisoners, particularly, who are kept in isolated imprisonment, in the F-Type prisons in particular, are Kurdish political prisoners.

What can your research on Irish political prisoners teach us about Turkey’s prison system?

There’s been a long background, and a real learning process with other countries. In particular, I’ve done a lot of work on the imprisonment of Irish political prisoners in the 1970s and into the 1980s, leading up to the hunger strikes of 1981. Irish political prisoners were held not only in isolation in the infamous H-Blocks outside Belfast but they were held without any reading material, without writing material, without clothing, kept naked in their cells.

I think there was an attempt to figure out, where did the British government go wrong in the way they were using this form of imprisonment as a form of punishment, and as a way of trying to break a movement. Whenever the Turks were trying to move away from a more ward-style prison, with a number of people in a single big room, into an F-type prison with isolation, around 2000, they did an operation called, ironically, ‘Return to Life’. The prisoners took an action against that, with the European Court Against Torture and claimed they were being held in coffin cells. In response to that, the Convention against Torture in Europe brought in as an expert not a human rights expert, but a man called Gordon Lakes, who had been the governor of the H-Blocks in Northern Ireland.

Bayrampaşa prison in aftermath of ‘Operation Return to Life’, 19 December 2000

How does this new prison system link to Öcalan’s imprisonment?

These were forms of trying to create a prison system that was out of sight and unknown, and that does have a relationship certainly to what is happening to Öcalan. The idea is, if we put someone in an island outside of the country, out of sight, out of mind, nobody’s going to care very much, and we can get away with anything we want to do, in that kind of situation. Another example, of course, which was long before Guantanamo or Imrali, is Robben Island, and the idea that we take political prisoners [like Nelson Mandela] and put them out in the ocean so they can’t be seen.

Abdullah Öcalan, İmralı Island Prison

Have methods developed to isolate Öcalan affected Turkey’s carceral system as a whole?

The international body now looks at Turkey and sees it as one of the two or three worst governments in the world in terms of the imprisonment not just of political prisoners, but anybody who speaks out at all about conditions in the country.

Öcalan’s detention is the thin end of the wedge, or the top of the iceberg. Partly because there have been international campaigns or concerns, and because he’s such a powerful and popular leader of the Kurdish movement, people are aware of Öcalan and the situation – but he is the extreme end of the whole system of isolated political imprisonment.


Share post
Tags: Trending

Related Posts

Daily News : 06 November 2024

Daily News : 06 November 2024

November 6, 2024
Daily News : 05 November 2024

Daily News : 05 November 2024

November 5, 2024
Daily News : 03 SEPTEMBER 2024

Daily News : 03 SEPTEMBER 2024

September 3, 2024
Fifty more detainees released under amnesty for internal peace in North and East Syria

Fifty more detainees released under amnesty for internal peace in North and East Syria

September 3, 2024
Uncle of missing child in Turkey arrested as case exposes broader child safety issues

Uncle of missing child in Turkey arrested as case exposes broader child safety issues

September 3, 2024
Turkey’s bid to join BRICS raises questions within NATO

Turkey’s bid to join BRICS raises questions within NATO

September 3, 2024

The news content on our website cannot be quoted without permission, even by citing the source. It cannot be copied or published elsewhere, contrary to the law or without permission.

Follow Medya News

Categories

  • All News
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
  • Opinion
  • Kurdistan
  • Human Rights
  • Interview
  • Women
  • Audio Articles
  • Special Report

Quick Menu

  • Daily News
  • Live Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Breaking News

About

Impressum

About us

Privacy Policy

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Add New Playlist

[email-subscribers-form id=”1″]

Contact

[contact-form-7 id=”18690″ title=”Contact form 1″]

No Result
View All Result
  • All News
  • Kurdistan
  • Women
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
  • Interview
  • Long Reads
  • World
  • Journalism
  • Ecology
  • Economy
  • Culture & Art
  • Daily News
  • Breaking News
  • Newsletter
  • Opinion
  • Authors
  • Podcast
  • LIVE BLOG

© 2020 Medyanews. All Rights Reserved