On December 19, massive security measures were taken against political prisoners at the Bakırköy women’s prison in Istanbul. According to the women’s news agency Jin News, a cell block was raided by around 50 uniformed officers after inmates resisted a transfer ordered by the prison administration. The action coincided with the anniversary of the controversial “Operation Return to Life” of December 19, 2000, in which dozens of prisoners were killed in several Turkish prisons.
According to Jin News, the prison administration wanted to merge two cells of political prisoners for “structural reasons.” However, the inmates concerned refused to be transferred. The prison administration then pointed to overcrowding in other areas and appealed to the political prisoners’ “understanding.” Lawyers said that there had been deliberate intimidation.
Forced relocation and military presence
On the morning of December 19, the prisoners were informed that an evacuation was imminent. At around 11 a.m., the prison administration, together with prison staff and a unit of around 50 heavily armed security forces, entered the cell. According to reports from lawyers, psychological pressure and threats were used.
The political prisoners are said to have resisted their forced transfer from cell block B4 to the neighboring B3 wing. According to those affected, the condition of the new cell block is “unacceptable”: there are significant structural defects, leaky roofs, dilapidated walls, contaminated water, and no functioning power supply.
Communication interrupted, visiting rights restricted
During the evacuation, access to telephone booths was also blocked and contact with the outside world was systematically prevented. Visits by lawyers were also temporarily impossible due to “technical malfunctions.” A defense attorney who arrived later was denied access until the afternoon. Lawyers described the operation as the first major military intervention against political prisoners since the hunger strikes in 2019. The timing of the action—exactly on the anniversary of the prison massacres—was understood by many prisoners as a deliberate provocation.
In addition, after their transfer, the political prisoners were immediately replaced by inmates from the general prison system. They were not allowed to take personal belongings such as chairs and cupboards with them. Those affected describe the situation in the new area as hazardous to their health. They have started filtering the water with cloths.
“Deliberate parallel to the deadly prison operation in 2000”
The prisoners themselves see the measure as a deliberate message. On the night of December 18-19, 2000, 8,500 heavily armed soldiers and officers of the Turkish gendarmerie (military police), including specially trained battalions and elite units of the secret services, stormed a total of 20 Turkish prisons. The massacre lasted three days. At least 30 prisoners and two soldiers who were doing their military service in the detention centers were killed during the storming of the facilities, and several hundred were injured, some seriously. A total of 34 people are still officially considered “missing” to this day. The term “return to life” is still criticized as cynical by those affected.