The replacement of small prisons with large-complex prisons in Turkey—where mass incarceration is an essential instrument of the Erdogan regime’s harsh governance—has led to apparent statistical “progress” that is nothing of the kind.

The number of prisons in Turkey, home to a soaring prison population now the largest in Europe at more than 400,000 inmates, fell from 524 in 2002 to 395 as of March 2025, local news outlet bianet reported on April 16.

Some 307 of the 395 active prisons in the country were launched after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002.

The new prisons are large complexes, officially referred to as “campuses” by the Ministry of Justice. They each enclose several prisons on the outskirts of cities, with combined capacities reaching into the 10,000s.

Satellite view: The former Silivri Prison that has officially become the “Marmara Penal Institutions Campus” hosts 11 prisons with a combined capacity of almost 20,000.

In almost every province of Turkey, a “penal town” has been built to a similar scale. The towns are named “penal institution campuses.”

The AKP regime's prison policies are the product of not only the logic of punishment, but also the practice of creating a new political and social order, according to bianet.

In 2002, the 524 prisons then in existence had a combined capacity of 73,725 and hosted 59,512 prisoners, meaning 15,000 beds were vacant, according to justice ministry data.

As of April 7, the 395 prisons now in operation had a combined capacity of 299,940, but were hosting 403,060 prisoners, meaning that 103,120 people were sleeping on the floor.

Chart: The number of prisoners and the combined capacity of prisons in Turkey.

Between 2002 and 2025, Turkey's prison capacity expanded by 4.1-fold, whereas the number of prisoners jumped by 6.8-fold. 

When the people under supervised release (probation, a system that was launched in 2005), are included, a more realistic but also more dramatic picture emerges.

As of end-March, 448,790 people were subject to supervised release, meaning that the combined number of detainees, convicts and individuals under probation in the country stood at 851,850.

This figure crystallises the systematic criminalisation created by AKP rule, according to bianet.

When probationers are included, the number of inmates has jumped by 14-fold since 2002.

It should also be noted that real criminals are released on probation as the authorities opt to pack the insufficient capacity with political prisoners.

The AKP government has also turned prisons into places were prison labour exploitation takes place. In 2024, Turkey’s prisons employed 58,193 prisoners, whose employment produced a turnover of Turkish lira (TRY) 26bn ($682mn). Only 4% of this sum was delivered to the prisoners in wages and insurance premiums.