ANKARA - Journalist Emrullah Acar, who is being held with his 3 colleagues in Sincan High Security Prison No. 1, which is called the "space shuttle", wrote, "The purpose of the prison, where we are kept in single cells that cannot see the sky, is to break the will of the prisoners."

 

It has been nearly 2 months since I was detained on October 25 with 8 of my journalist friends as part of an Ankara-based investigation and subsequently arrested. Many news and reports were published about our arrest and the violations of rights we suffered afterwards. Without repeating these, I would like to explain the structure and purpose of the Sincan High Security Prison No. 1 (YGC), where we are held in separate single cells as journalists. The history of prisons begins with the history of class and state governments, and they take different designs according to the originality of the ages. Although the names of the "private" prisons, which are designed as underground, above ground, castle, room and room, are different, the aims are the same, to break the will of the prisoners and destroy their hopes. There are many written works on prison history, from the prophets Eyüp and Yusuf, to the Bastille and Saigon resistances, to Nelson Mandela and PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan. On the other hand, we do not have enough resources on YGCs, which are new types of prisons, the number of which has been increasing recently. I will try to share the information I have gained from the prisoners, both through observation and during the two months we have been held on the YGCs.

 

PHYSICAL STRUCTURE LIKE A SPACE SHUTTLE

 

The construction of new types of prisons was accelerated for the liquidation of the Kurdish Freedom movement with the "Plan of Collapse", which was put into effect with the decision of the National Security Council (MGK) in 2014. In this context, new campus prisons were built in many provinces of Kurdistan and Turkey. It is not only its structure that distinguishes YGCs, which the prisoners liken to a "space shuttle" due to their physical structure, from other prisons. There are many differences, from the principles of internal regulation to the selection of personnel. Every aspect of the prison, inside and out, has been designed according to artificial intelligence technology, and all operations are carried out according to this design.

 

THE BREATHING IS WATCHED

 

The module cells, together with the bathroom-toilet and kitchen counter, have windows that open to an empty space of 13 square meters, resembling an apartment space called "sunshade". It is not possible to see the sky from the first and second floors through the iron railing and the window, which is covered with a steel mesh resembling a sieve. While the lower floors, where we are held for more than a month, do not receive any sun throughout the year, the upper floors receive only 1-2 hours of sun a day for 3-4 months a year. The steel “cage” covering the windows (the bottom floor does not even allow straws to pass through its holes. The upper floors are finger-thick) reminiscent of the places where wild animals are kept. Shortly after we were arrested, cameras were installed in the so-called "sunshade" to see inside the cells. The air entering through the windows of the prisoners is also wanted to be controlled with this. This reminds one of George Orwell's Big Brother, who said, "I'm also watching your breathing."

 

MIX-IMPLEMENTATION

 

A similar practice of "mix-implementation" applied during the fascism of September 12, which failed to succeed, is being tried in YGCs. There are political prisoners, members of the Gülen Community, ISIS and female killers in different cells of the same module.

 

KURD'S COLOR AND LANGUAGE ARE FORBIDDEN

 

Kurdish books, magazines, letters and even prayer booklets are not allowed to enter the prison. Likewise, even Turkish publications that have not been subjected to any legal proceedings, that do not have a meeting decision, but that are thought to have content about political thought are not given to the prisoners. The following prohibitions actually explain why these inexplicable prohibitions are arbitrary: Mekap brand shoes, local clothes, family photos with green-yellow-red colors, photographs taken in local clothes are forbidden to be given to prisoners. The mentality that bans the Kurdish language should be banning it on the grounds that both the color and the shoes of the Kurds will give encouragement; otherwise, I guess there is no other explanation!

 

THE RESISTERS SAY THE LAST WORD

 

In my conversation with the prisoners who have been held here for a long time, the prisoners state that they are held in many different types of prisons, and that the new YGCs, like other prisons, cannot achieve their purpose. The prisoners point to the construction of new prison types and the peak of the long-standing resistance of the prisoners. While the prisoners' rhetoric about the YGCs, "Those who resist always have the last word", shows that the struggle will be tough, only time will tell whether the YGCs will achieve the desired goal.

 

MA / Emrullah Acar

 

Sincan No. 1 High Security Prison B-2-18