The “Revolutionary” Prisons in Turkey
I spent 10 years in Turkish prisons in the 90’s, during which there were prisons inside prisons. The inner prisons were run by the radical left revolutionary organizations. I already documented the horrible practices at these inner prisons in my books. In this article I will give the reader a comparison of two different prisons in two different periods: Diyarbakir in 1980’s under government control and Bayrampasa in 1990’s under the control of radical revolutionary left. I was not in Diyarbakir in 1980’s but was in prison with the people who were in Diyarbakir during 1980’s. There is ample research, written and visual evidence about this period. Under the 1980 coup regime torture and mistreatment was rampant in Diyarbakir. As a result, many inmates lost their lives or were permanently disabled. That said, we know that the torture and mistreatment neither changed the beliefs of the inmates nor did it prevent resistance. The political prisoners showed solidarity against systemic torture. They often launched hunger strikes sometimes indefinitely. I listened first-hand how the resistance boosted the morale from prisoners themselves. In fact, the resistance in Diyarbakir galvanized support for PKK in the following period. We know that PKK used Diyarbakir as propaganda material to support its own resistance literature. Not only in media controlled by PKK but also numerous Turkish journalists and intellectuals wrote about 1980’s Diyarbakir.
Developments during the 1990’s took a different path. I was set foot in Bayrampasa prison which was reserved exclusively? for leftist and PKK sympathizers. I was completely unprepared for what I would observe and experience in Bayrampasa in the next few years. The wards in the C Bock were completely under the control of the revolutionaries and PKK. The daily life was more like one in a concentration camp rather in a prison ward. Military discipline was upheld. During my early days, looking out from the windows of 15-16thward in C Block I saw a group of prisoners with guns doing a military exercise. I thought special operations teams of the government was using the facility. When I asked about what I saw to the XXX in charge of our ward, the response was “Those two wards belong to Revolutionary Left (“Dev-Sol”).” My preconceptions about prison life was shattered. How could it happen? Dev-Sol was literally conducting an armed exercise in the prison complex.
As Chekhov says if in the first act there is a rifle hanging on the wall in the second or third act it must absolutely go off. Those guns that I saw went off in exactly a year. It happened in the adjacent ward: Dursun Karatas supporters, a faction within Dev-Sol raided a ward populated by Bedri Yagan supporters, another faction. Both groups were armed. As a result, Erdogan Eliuygun was murdered and and a few others were wounded on July 22nd1993.
Another prisoner told me that he saw long heavy arms, though I did not see it myself. It is possible. It was as if the state designed Bayrampasa as a camp for the revolutionary left. It could be said that the place was better equipped than the camps outside. After staying here for a few months some of the young members would hit the mountains. And some others (since they received their armed training) would get into armed conflict in Istanbul. Occasionally I would recognize some of these youngsters as killed in armed conflict by the security forces. There were quite a few of these during 1991-93.
When I asked the leading prisoners how this was possible, I was told that it had not been easy to wrestle control from the state, it was a fruit of resistance. Yet years later I met with one of the directors of Bayrampasa in a conference. When I asked what his thoughts were about the C Block. What he said was illuminating: “We were not involved in that section. C Block was under the jurisdiction of Istanbul Police Department.
In the 90’s journalists and politicians reported that the prisons became training camps for revolutionary left and PKK. Yet the left did not take notice.
When the oppressed becomes the oppressor
Who were the leaders of the revolutionaries and PKK in the prison? There were 4 PKK wards in the prison. The leaders of the wards were the ones who themselves were tortured in 1980’s at Diyarbakir. They were appointed to their position by PKK precisely because of their experience in Diyarbakir. They were now involved in systematic oppression and torture of their own comrades. Through my research I was yet to learn that the number of prisoners killed by the revolutionaries and PKK were more than the ones killed by the state in the same period when the revolutionaries controlled the prisons: 40 vs 28.
Contrast these to F type prisons which replaced the wards with cells: Between 2000 and 2018 not a single prisoner was killed neither by the revolutionaries nor by the prison management. In the 90’s people were killed or permanently disabled as a result of hunger strikes in the prisons that was effectively controlled by the revolutionaries. Not a single hunger strike between in the F type prisons, nicknamed “coffin cells” by the prisoners between 2000-2018.
Between 1990 and 2000 PKK and the revolutionary left were effectively controlling 23 largest prisons in Turkey managing roughly 100,000 prisoners divided into 50 or 100 prisoners by ward. 40 prisoners were executed. Not a single witness could stand up to these inside or outside the prisons. By start contrast, a decade ago PKK had not only developed resistance against the treatment in Diyarbakir, they could legally challenge and thanks to the Human Rights NGO’s could document the torture and the mistreatment.
The prisoners facing oppression by the revolutionary left and PKK stated to lose determination for the cause. Most of them severed their relations with the organizations. The control and oppression in the prisons were total, in a way reminiscent to concentration camps. Despite numerous executions, there is no sign of questioning or resistance. August 21st, 1994: Simel Aydin,17 was suffocated to death by her comrades from Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) in Bayrampasa Prison, Istanbul. December 23rd, 1996: Ulas Sahinturk,17 was suffocated to death by DHKP-C in Ulucanlar Prison. Ankara. July 23rd, 1994: Ercan Y, Irfan D. and Sait F., all teenagers were suffocated to death at Erzurum Prison. All these prisoners were overtly executed in wards of 50 or 100 prisoners. I learned first hand from the witnesses that nobody could bring an objection or later testify against the perpetrators. Not before, during or following these crimes, even after the prisoners were released. Nobody was able to talk about or write about them. Nobody brought a lawsuit against the state, party legally responsible for the prisoners. When I asked about this radio silence to the families of the deceased, the response was that they feared retaliation by the revolutionary left. When I wrote about some of the cases in “Killed by her Comrades”, reaction of the families is one of discomfort and nervousness not curiosity. By contrast violations in Diyarbakir in 80’s were heavily documented, and many lawsuits against the government were filed, most of them making their way to European Human Rights Court.
Between 1990 and 2000 about 100,000 people were in the prisons controlled by revolutionary left and PKK. 98% of the prisoners became informants under police pressure and 40 of them were overtly executed by the revolutionary left or PKK. Many more were tortured or mistreated. Thousands left traumatized.
All countries manage prisons but in Turkey the revolutionary left managed their own prisons within the system.
Aytekin Yılmaz 15 Ocak 2019
Names of executed Prisoners by the Revolutionary Left and PKK between 1990-2000
1 -Ali Akgün Çanakkale Cezaevi, 1990, Dev-Sol
2 - Mehmet Ali Çelik, 1991 Bayrampaşa Cezaevi- Dev-Sol
3 -Ali Sinan Aksünger, 6 Eylül 1991, Bayrampaşa, Dev-Sol
3-Kemal Fırat, 4 Nisan 1991 Bayrampaşa-Dev-Sol
4 -Mehmet Sami Tarhan, 2 Mayıs 1992, Bayrampaşa, Dev-Sol
5 - Adnan Temiz, Adana Cezaevi, 10 Haziran 1992, Dev-Sol
6 -Osman Tim, Bayrampaşa Cezaevi, 22 Aralık 1992, PKK
7 - Mülkiye Doğan, Urfa Cezaevi, 12 Nisan 1993, PKK
8 -Sinan Er, 6 Mart 1993 Diyarbakır Cezaevi, PKK
9 - Ekrem Arslan, İzmir Buca Cezaevi, 1993, PKK
10 - Süleyman Aydın, İzmir Buca Cezaevi, 1993, PKK
11 - Mehmet Tuncay, İzmir Buca Cezaevi 1993 – PKK
12 -İsmi belirlenememiş iki kişi, Diyarbakır E Tipi Cezaevi 1994 PKK
13 -Erdoğan Eliuygun, Bayrampaşa Cezaevi 18 Temmuz 1993 Dev-Sol
14- Ali İhsan Kaymaz, 1994 Malatya E Tipi Cezaevi-PKK
15 - Şerif Mercan 1994 Bursa özel Tip Cezaevi – PKK
16 -İzzet Kaplan 1994 Diyarbakır Cezaevi, PKK
17 - Mehmet Kankaya- A. İhsan Soymaz (iki kişi) 1994 Malatya E Tipi Cezaevi-PKK
18 - Ercan Yıldız, 23 Temmuz 1994 Erzurum E Tipi Cezaevi- PKK
19 - İrfan Doğan, 23 Temmuz 1994 Erzurum E Tipi Cezaevi-PKK
20 - Sait Fidangil, 23 Temmuz 1994 Erzurum E Tipi Cezaevi-PKK
21 -Ahmet Celal Özkul, 1994 Ankara Ulucanlar Cezaevi-DHKP-C
22 -Şimel Aydın, Bayrampaşa Cezaevi 21 Ağustos 1994 –DHKP-C
23 -Hasan Hüseyin Kulaç, Bayrampaşa Cezaevi 21 Ağustos 1994 – DHKP-C
24 -Latife Ereren, Bayrampaşa Cezaevi 5 Mart 1995 – DHKP-C
25 -Hilal Fusün Ünlü, Ankara Ulucanlar kapalı Cezaevi 28 Haziran 1995 DHKP-C
26 -Fatma Özyurt, 22 Ekim 1996 Ankara Merkez Kapalı Cezaevi – DHKP-C
27 -İbrahim Sertel, 23 Ekim 1996 Buca Cezaevi- DHKP-C
28 -Ulaş Şahintürk, 23 Aralık Ankara Ulucanlar -1996-DHKP-C
29 -Şükrü Akın, Konya Cezaevi 5 Şubat 1996-PKK
30 -Emine Yavuz, Diyarbakır Cezaevi 8 Ağustos 1996 PKK
31 - Fikriye G. Muhammed, Diyarbakır Cezaevi, 1996, PKK
32 -Ramiz Şişman, Ankara Merkez Kapalı Cezaevi 4 Kasım 1996-TİKKO
33 -Hasan Hüseyin, Er Bayrampaşa Cezaevi 5 kasım 1996- TİKKO
34 -Mehmet Çakar, 20 Eylül 1998 Bursa Özel Tip Cezaevi TİKKO
35 –Adem Yeşildağ, 27 Ağustos 1998 Malatya Cezaevi- DHKP-C
36 -Turan Ünal, Çankırı Cezaevi 4 Temmuz 1999-DHKP-C
37 -Oktay Yıldırım, 19 Mayıs 1999 Bayrampaşa Cezaevi- DHKP-C
38-Haydar Akbaba, 19 Aralık 2000 - Ümraniye Cezaevi -MLKP
39-Muharrem Buldukoğlu, 19 Aralık 2000-Ümraniye Cezaevi MLKP
Executions by revolutionary organizations
DHKP-C - 17
PKK -17
TİKKO -3
MLKP - 2
Total 39
