Prisoners’ paintings on exhibit at Istanbul courthouse

Damla Güler – ISTANBUL

Oil paintings made by a group of convicts of foreign nationalities who are incarcerated at the suburban Maltepe No. 3 Type-L Closed Prison near the Marmara Sea are on an exhibit at Istanbul’s Anatolia Courthouse.

The paintings were created by convicts of nationalities of Brazil, the Netherlands, Mongolia, the United Kingdom, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran during their time spent at a prison workshop.

The convicts have been jailed mainly on charges of “conducting drug trade,” “theft” and “robbery.”

The paintings are for sale for prices ranging from 350 Turkish Liras ($59.60) to 1,000 liras ($170.30).

Turkish prisons have been offering various workshops in to help prepare convicts to reintegrate into society after their release and to give them a sense of purpose and responsibility while they are incarcerated.

The workshops are supported by the Education Ministry, Family and Social Policies Ministry, the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Labor and Social Security Ministry, universities and nongovernmental organizations.