Council of Europe: Turkey’s Prison Population Rises Beyond 300,000

Turkish soldiers stand guard in front of the Silivri Prison in Istanbul, where many journalists and political prisoners are held. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU

"On 31 January 2022, the prison administrations with the largest prison populations were Turkey (303,945), United Kingdom (88,225), Poland (71,874), France (69,964), Germany (56,294), Italy (54,372), Ukraine (48,038) and Spain (State Administration) (47,425)," the CoE said.

Russia is believed to have a larger prison population than Turkey, but Moscow was stripped of its Council of Europe membership last year after it invaded Ukraine. However, Russia's prison population fell last autumn because of the Wagner mercenary group's recruitment of thousands of convicts.

The CoE's 'SPACE I' report, produced by the University of Lausanne, provides country-by-country data on inmate numbers, incarceration rates and overcrowding, as well as prison budgets and rates of mortality and escape, for 48 prison administrations in Council of Europe member states.

The survey highlighted that the incarceration rate grew significantly in 2022.

"From 31 January 2021 to 31 January 2022, the median incarceration rate grew by 2.3% in countries exceeding one million inhabitants. The prison administrations where the incarceration rate grew the most were Slovenia (+23%), Finland (+15%), France (+15%), Northern Ireland (UK) (+13%), Montenegro (+12%), Croatia (+10%) and Turkey (+9.2%)," the report said.

The survey noted that European prisons are overcrowded, with Romania, Greece and Turkey among the countries with the most serious problems.

"Overall, in Europe, prison density grew by 4.8% from January 2021 to January 2022 (from 87.4 to 91.6 inmates per 100 places available). Seven prison...