Inmates and arrestees at state prisons in Edirne and Balıkesir provinces were quarantined on Tuesday due to possible link to COVID-19 pandemic, the Boldmedya newsportal reported.
Turkey has a total of 384 prisons.
Based on figures provided by the Justice Ministry, 229,790 people are in prisons with a total capacity of 207,339. Only 141,802 out of the 229,790 have been convicted of a crime.
Another report last year stated that the total prison population had exceeded 224,000 while prison capacity is 202,000.
Turkey’s overcrowded, unhygienic prisons are a perfect breeding ground for the COVID-19 pandemic .
Turkeypurge.com editors recenlty published an announcement, calling on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to put reason before punishment by conditionally releasing purge-victims across Turkey.