Georgia seeks to improve its citizens’ welfare at Turkish prisons

Georgia’s Minister of Corrections is in Istanbul to make sure Georgian inmates have decent living conditions in Turkish prisons.

Minister Kakhi Kakhishvili met Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag and the pair discussed concrete ways of making prison life easier for Georgian citizens in Turkey. This included:

• Accommodating all Georgian inmates in one prison;
• Providing them with access to Georgian TV channels;
• Providing them with Georgian books, which Georgia will give to the Turkish prison library;
• Ensuring there is a separate room as a chapel for Georgian convicts; and
• Ensuring special nutrition for Georgian inmates during Georgian holidays.

Currently there are 274 Georgian prisoners at 36 Turkish prisons. Georgia’s Ministry of Corrections said Georgian television channels were available only for 121 inmates who were serving time in Istanbul prison.

Turkey’s Justice Minister promised Kakhishvili all Georgian inmates would soon be accommodated together, as long as prisoners consented. Other requests of Georgia regarding Georgian inmates were also shared.

One of these issues surrounded Georgian inmates who had been released from Turkish prisons on probation. These people were not subject to deportation and they were also forbidden to leave Turkey for a certain period of time.

"This has created some financial problems for them,” Kakhishvili said. "They are obliged to get residency documents, which is related with complications.”

Kakhishvili also said the terms of appealing a decision of the district court to a higher court for Georgian citizens in Turkey "needed also to be revised”. Bozdag agreed and said reform of the legislation had already started for both of these issues and these problems would soon be solved.

Meanwhile there are 93 Turkish prisoners serving time in Georgian prisons. Georgia’s Ministry of Corrections said all of these people had access to Turkish television channels, a special room for religious services, the opportunity to meet a Muslim cleric whenever they wanted, and special nutrition during feasts and holidays. The inmates were also able to communicate with each other and access Turkish-language books.