Urgent Statement by the Turkish Medical Association

WE CALL ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATIONS AND DEFENDERS TO IMMEDIATELY SUPPORT THE DEMANDS OF THE PRISONERS BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE IN TURKEY SHOULD LOUD AND CLEARLY HEAR THE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE STRUGGLING FOR HUMAN VALUES.

Here’s the translation of a recent statement by the Turkish Medical Law, warning of the inhuman conditions of S and Y type (pit-type) isolation prisons:

THE PIT-TYPE PRISONS SHOULD BE CLOSED, THE HUNGER STRIKES SHOULD END

The policies implemented in Turkish prisons are incompatible with human dignity, aiming at maximum isolation and segregation; the architectural structures of the prisons built also serve this purpose. With restricted time for exercise, windows facing the exercise yard covered with thick wire mesh, and high ventilation shafts, known as ‘’pit-type’’, that effectively block the view of the sky. S-type, Y-type and high-security prisons have recently become places where prisoners are unable to exercise their rights guaranteed by international conventions.

As a result, 15 prisoners have started hunger strikes and death fasts in various prisons across Turkey. As of 31 October 2025, Serkan Onur Yılmaz’s death fast, which he started in Antalya High Security Prison and continued in Bolu F-type Prison after being transferred, has reached its 355th day; Ayberk Demirdöğen’s hunger strike at Kırıkkale F-Type Prison has reached its 235th day, and Fikret Akar’s hunger strike at Çorlu High Security Prison has reached its 217th day.

The prisoners’ fundamental demands are the closure of pit-type prisons and the transfer of prisoners held there to other prisons. Unfortunately, however, the Ministry of Justice has not taken any concrete steps towards resolving the issue to date.

At this stage, Serkan Onur Yılmaz’s condition has passed a critical phase, with serious health problems such as numbness in his hands and feet, loss of strength, and inability to walk emerging. We wish to share with the public our concern that, if demands are not met and concrete steps are not taken to resolve the chronic prison issues in Turkey, as has happened in the past, bodies will once again begin to emerge from prisons.

We call upon the Ministry of Justice and other relevant state institutions. We demand an immediate end to policies implemented through prisons aimed at suppressing dissenting segments of society, the closure of so-called ‘pit-type’ prisons, and the prompt provision of conditions befitting human dignity, as requested by prisoners.

Turkish Medical Association Human Rights Committee

Turkish Medical Association Central Council