Originally from Amed, Kalır, a father of seven, was forced to move to Adana in the early 1990s for political reasons. On 10 October 1994, he was taken into custody and, following severe torture, was arrested and subsequently sentenced to life in prison after what was reportedly a sham trial.

Since his initial imprisonment in Adana’s Kürkçüler Prison, Kalır has been transferred multiple times to jails across Turkey, including Konya E-Type, Siirt E-Type, Diyarbakır D-Type, and eventually to prisons far from his family in Trabzon, Kastamonu, and Tekirdağ No. 2 F-Type.

Most recently, he was transferred to Tekirdağ No. 1 Prison. He was expected to be released on 10 October 2024. However, just five days before his scheduled release, the prison’s administrative and observation committee held a conditional release interview with him. During this meeting, the committee asked Kalır, who has endured 30 years of imprisonment and various health issues, a single question: "Do you feel repentance?"

Kalır straightforwardly answered: "I don’t feel repentance," and this led to the arbitrary denial of his conditional release. As a result, according to the decision made by Tekirdağ No. 1 Prison's observation committee, his release has been postponed by three months.