20 democratic institutions in Europe called for the release of all political prisoners in Turkey.

The statement said: "Prisons are one of the places more at risk when it comes to the coronavirus (Covid -19) epidemic. The lives of prisoners who are sadly deprived of hygiene conditions in normal times and who have difficulty in accessing their right to health are in great danger because of the Covid -19 outbreak."

The statement reminded that doctors and experts are stressing the importance of hygiene measures as well as the need to avoid crowded places. "This is clearly leaving the prisoners at risk of death," said the statement adding that in Turkey the situation of prisons is "very serious due to overcrowding. There are some 1343 ill prisoners in Turkey prisons, 344 of them in serious conditions. The risk for ill prisoners is tens of times greater than for healthy people."

The statement underlined that "because of the coronavirus emergency, the rights to meet with lawyers and families have been further limited, thus breaking their ties with the outside world: this also causes serious problems especially to the psychology of prisoners."

The statement once again reminded that "Prisons are among the places more at risk when it comes to the spread of coronavirus. Governments are responsible for the life and well being of prisoners. We believe prisoners in all countries should be released immediately, to avoid loss of lives."

The statement was signed by the following associations/groups:

TSP (Prison Voices Platform / Europe)

AvEG-Kon (Confederation of European Oppressed Immigrants)

SKB (Socialist Women's Association)

YS (Young Struggle)

ATİK (European Confederation of Workers from Turkey)

UPOTUDAK (International Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee)

ADHK (European Democratic Rights Confederation)

ADKH (European Democratic Women's Movement)

SYM (Socialist Youth Movement)

ADEF (European Democratic Dersim Unions Federation)

The World We Live in

Alınteri-Europe

AGEB (European Migrant Workers Association)

Purple-Red Collective

PGI-MLM (Partisan Youth Initiative - Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)

KCDK-E (Democratic Kurdish Society Congress-Europe)

TJK-E (European Kurdish Women's Movement)

Revolutionary Party - Europe

European Revolutionary Democratic Communes Initiative

European Exiles Assembly (ASM) "