The prison administration is divided into two sections: central and regional. The central branch is located in the capital, Ankara, and is made up of the following departments: · Sentencing department · Personnel department · International relations department · Education department · Communications and health services department · Chairmanship of the board of controllers

The regional branch includes prison buildings, integration and probation supervision, and training centres for prison personnel.

The management of the institutions is shared between both the Administrative Control Board and the prison directors. Presently, the structure of decision making does not allow the Administrative Control Board to oversee the smooth operation of the penitentiary system. Primary decision-making power is given to the directors of the institutions.¹

Two types of prisons exist; “closed” and “open”.

Open prisons hold those sentenced to three years or less. Prisoners may be transferred from closed to open facilities once they have completed at least two-thirds of their sentences and have shown proof of good behaviour. Open prisons only accept individuals that are able-bodied enough to work.

High security institutions, including type D and F, were modeled after American “supermax” prisons and were introduced to the Turkish penitentiary estate in 2000. These institutions have cells that can hold between one and three prisoners. They imposed a social isolation rule and occasionally sensory isolation to varying degrees. Type D and F prisons are nicknamed “the tombs”.¹

Significant growth in prison population has lead to more repressive penal legislation. A reform of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedures Code, and the Penal Application Code took place in 2005. These reforms have: -Lengthened sentences. -Extended the minimum length of detention before being able to claim conditional release (from half to two thirds of the sentence for common law prisoners). -Introduced full life sentences for the first time.

Before the attempted coup d’état, the prison population was primarily male, approximately 96%. It was also made up predominantly of young people: 68% of prisoners were between 18 and 39 years of age.

The classification system in prisons is based on the letters of the alphabet. These classifications follow multiple criteria such as the architecture of the buildings, their capacity, or their security. Notably:

• Type M prisons are built with two floors. Their cells hold 4 - 10 people. Each has an outside courtyard.
• Type L prisons have replaced the older prisons. They’re built close in proximity to large cities and can hold up to a few thousand prisoners.
• Type D and F prisons (two and fourteen respectively) are high-security buildings. The prisoners are subject to extremely strict and dehumanizing isolation.
• Type K prisons are for minors.

Most institutions have specific units for women and minors.

As of November 2017, there were 384 prisons¹:

• 290 closed facilities, eight of which are for women
• 71 open facilities, five of which are for women (seven according to the prison administration)
• 16 high security facilities: 14 type F and two type D
• 7 closed facilities for minors