According to March data, the occupancy rate of the 395 prisons in Turkey has reached 398,694 people. While the Ministry of Justice has officially declared the total capacity of prisons to be 299,940, this surge indicates that prisons are now operating at 133.93 percent of their intended capacity. The current number exceeds the official limit by 98,754 people. The dramatic increase in overcrowding has drawn attention, especially in connection with the wave of arrests linked to the operations targeting Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu.

Number of prisons drops, yet inmate population continues to rise

According to data from the Ministry of Justice, before the closure of 10 prisons, there were 405 correctional facilities in Turkey. As of January 1, these prisons held 384,216 people. By February, that number had risen by 8,240, reaching 392,456. In March, despite the total number of prisons decreasing to 395, the number of detainees and convicts had increased by 14,478 compared to January. While the Ministry of Justice has not yet released data for April, the prison population is expected to continue rising compared to the previous month.

Prison population has multiplied eight times since 2000

The rise in prison capacity has continued steadily since the early 2000s. The number of detainees and convicts in Turkish prisons was 49,512 in the year 2000. This figure rose to 266,831 in 2020, reached 341,497 in 2022 and climbed to 398,694 in 2025—marking an eightfold increase over a 25-year period.

Prison expenditures increased by 30 percent

According to 2025 data from the Ministry of Justice, the number of personnel working in prisons has reached 63,214. The budget allocated for prison expenses in 2025 is 18.5 billion Turkish lira. This represents a 30 percent increase compared to the 14.2 billion lira allocated in 2024.

23.5 billion lira allocated for 11 new prisons

Rights organizations argue that the overcrowding crisis is a consequence of an increasingly authoritarian approach that curtails freedom of thought and expression through prosecution. They emphasize that democratic reforms are key to solving the issue. In contrast, the government is attempting to address the problem by constructing 11 new prisons. The Ministry of Justice has announced that these new facilities, expected to be completed by 2027, will cost a total of 23.5 billion Turkish lira, of which 1.2 billion has been allocated from the 2025 budget.