The Infamous Silivri Prison, A Symbol of Authoritarianism in Turkey

TEHRAN (Defapress) - In recent months, Silivri Prison has hosted Ekrem İmamoğlu, the popular mayor of Istanbul and a political rival of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was sentenced to 20 months in prison on baseless charges of "insulting and threatening public officials." Located just an hour from western Istanbul, Silivri was once known only as a tourist town, famous for its lavender fields, high-quality dairy products, and seaside villas along the Marmara coast. But today, for most Turks, Silivri holds a different meaning: it is no longer an ordinary town but a symbol of authoritarianism in Turkey.

Silivri Prison officially opened in 2008 amid extensive media coverage. The facility spans nearly one million square meters, consisting of nine separate detention blocks with a nominal capacity of 11,000 inmates. Prison staff enjoy amenities such as 500 apartment units, a mosque, a shopping center, a restaurant, and an elementary school.

Initially, Silivri was meant to replace Turkey’s old and dilapidated prisons. At the time of its inauguration, state media enthusiastically reported that the cells were equipped with TVs and radios, over 2,000 surveillance cameras ensured security, and inmates had access to recreational facilities, including an indoor gym and two outdoor football fields.

During the early years of Erdoğan’s rule, when Turkey was rapidly modernizing, Silivri Prison became a symbol of hope for democratic revival. However, it soon became a key site for Turkey’s contemporary political and security upheavals. Many secular elites, generals, police chiefs, journalists, and lawyers, accused of plotting to overthrow Erdoğan’s government, were tried not in regular courts but in Silivri’s prison sports halls.

For many observers, Silivri later turned into a stage for historical score-settling and the humiliation of secular military figures, especially after indictments were found to contain glaring errors and illegal interventions. The show trials held here made it clear that Silivri had become a tool for suppressing Erdoğan’s critics and opponents.

This trend accelerated during Erdoğan’s second decade in power, marked by the failed coup attempt by Fethullah Gülen, the declaration of a state of emergency, and the adoption of a new constitution. As the crackdown expanded to include journalists, lawyers, politicians, and tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, harsh sentences for non-political crimes surged, leading to a sharp rise in Turkey’s prison population.

When Erdoğan came to power in 2002, Turkey had around 60,000 prisoners. Today, that number exceeds 350,000. According to an EU report, Turkey’s prison population equals that of 45 other countries combined. Silivri, designed for 11,000 inmates, now holds 22,000, making it one of the largest prisons in the world.

Ahmet Altan, imprisoned after the 2016 coup attempt, once wrote that in spring, birds flying over Silivri would sometimes drop flowers into the prison yard. He once hid a flower in a plastic bottle to decorate his cell, but the next day, angry guards discovered and destroyed it.

Lawyers, guards, former inmates, and their families all speak of the systemic oppression and pressure inside Silivri. Overcrowded cells (holding double their capacity), halved meal portions, shared mattresses, and routine beatings and humiliation are all denied by prison authorities despite witness testimonies.

However, high-profile prisoners like İmamoğlu are held in a special political prisoners’ unit, where the usual mistreatment is absent. Instead, the real torture is the judicial process itself, protracted detention, politically influenced trials that drag on for years, and verdicts handed down by judges and prosecutors under political pressure, lacking independence.

Today, notorious Silivri Prison stands as a symbol of Erdoğan’s hunger to cling to power. When someone criticizes the government or crosses red lines, a common warning in Turkish culture is: "Silivri is cold!"