Turkey, EU conclude prison reform program

The training, which was given to prisoner officers in Turkey with the motto “Change starts inside,” cost 1.9 million euros ($2.1 million) and was provided in a twinning arrangement with the United Kingdom and Portugal.

Charge d’Affaires of the EU Delegation to Turkey Bela Szombati said the project was a “good example of long-standing relations between Turkey and the EU,” speaking in Ankara June 12.

“A country’s penal system says a lot about its respect for human rights. The EU pays special attention to this,” Szombati said.      

The scheme was designed to “develop a well-defined, standardized and structured enforcement service, including a fully functional system to ensure rehabilitation treatment and successful re-integration of prisoners coming from different criminological backgrounds and prison staff performing in line with the EU standards,” the project’s managers reported.

Prison reform and harmonization has been a feature of Turkey’s steps towards EU membership.

The 2013 EU progress report revealed “Turkey has been pursuing an ambitious prison reform program for a number of years, which has brought improvements to prison conditions and infrastructure.”