Diyarbakır Prison to be turned into museum

Turan Yılmaz - ANKARA

Diyarbakır Prison, which has been long associated with cruelty, torture, and inhumane acts after the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup, will be closed and turned into a museum.

The protocol regarding the transfer of the prison from the Justice Ministry to the Culture and Tourism Ministry was signed between the two ministries.

The prison will be turned into a prison museum, like Ulucanlar Prison in the capital Ankara, which was once known for human rights violations.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ will hand over a symbolic key to Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to share the decision with the public in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

Erdoğan announced last year that the prison would be turned into a cultural center.

Construction of Diyarbakır prison started in 1972 and was then opened as an E-type prison in July 1980, shortly before the Sept. 12’s coup d’état.

After the coup, the facility was transferred to military administration and became a martial law military prison.

Between 1981 and 1984, a total of 34 people lost their lives in the prison, which is among the “ten most notorious jails in the world,” according to the British daily The Times.

The prison, which has also been the subject of many documentaries and books, was retransferred to the Justice Ministry in 1988 and continued to serve as E-Type prison.