In Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır (Amed), in eastern Turkey, Kurdish legal organisations and civil society groups are urging the Turkish government to launch urgent judicial reforms to release gravely ill political prisoners. Despite consistent medical reports recommending their release, authorities have refused, intensifying public concern and adding pressure to the country’s political agenda.
The Med Federation of Legal and Solidarity Associations for Prisoners and Convicts (MED TUHAD-FED), the Association for Assistance to Prisoners’ Families (TUAY-DER), and the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) held a joint press conference in front of the Diyarbakır Courthouse.
Behind a banner reading “Defending life is building peace,” family members, political party representatives, and activists gathered in solidarity.
ÖHD Prisons Commission Secretary Ferat Köçeroğlu strongly criticised what he described as Turkey’s arbitrary and inhumane prison system, especially regarding sick prisoners.
“Even when hospitals fully certified by the Justice Ministry recommend release, those reports are meaningless without the endorsement of the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), which has become a state-controlled monopoly,” Köçeroğlu said.
“The ATK lacks both neutrality and independence, and its slow procedures deprive sick prisoners of valuable time.”
According to Köçeroğlu, 89 critically ill prisoners remain in local prisons: 37 in Diyarbakır (Amed), 30 in Erzurum (Erzirom), 14 in Erzincan (Erzîngan) and 8 in Elazığ (Xarpêt). Additionally, 31 prisoners who have technically completed their sentences remain detained due to arbitrary parole denials and disciplinary sanctions. “This represents a clear violation of fundamental rights, including the right to liberty, security, and fair trial,” he asserted.
The topic has gained renewed urgency given the evolving peace efforts. Since October, there have reportedly been informal contacts between the Turkish government, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, aiming to revive the peace process that broke down a decade ago. Öcalan’s 27 February statement, calling for a new era of peace and democratic society, set the tone for today’s announcement by the PKK that it intends to dissolve and transition to peaceful democratic activism.
Human rights groups stress that no meaningful peace can emerge without addressing human rights in prisons. “This is not only about individual cases — it’s about restoring the rule of law and creating space for democratic dialogue,” Köçeroğlu explained.
Serhat Eren, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, accused the government of using prisons as political tools.
“Dozens of sick prisoners are effectively left to die in breach of legal norms. S- and Y-type prisons have become inhumane facilities of repression and must be shut down immediately,” Eren said.
Both Eren and Köçeroğlu underlined that easing Öcalan’s severe isolation and enabling him to contribute meaningfully to public debate are central to advancing the peace process. “For a sustainable peace, conditions must allow civil society, journalists, intellectuals, and the public to engage in dialogue,” Eren added.
The gathering concluded with chants of “Bijî berxwedana zindana” (Long live the prison resistance) and “Hak, hukuk, adalet” (Rights, law, justice), reinforcing the call for comprehensive justice reform.
