Torture has become systematic

Kayhan Ayhan

The operations that began with the arrest and removal from office of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the presidential candidate of the Republican People's Party and Mayor of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), have turned into torture for those arrested. Practices such as being held for days without food in detention centres and being placed in solitary confinement in prisons are being used to exert pressure on detainees.

Ekrem İmamoğlu also stated in a post that systematic torture and ill-treatment were being applied to those arrested in the İBB operations.

THIS IS A TORTURE ALERT

İmamoğlu, who brought to light the fact that female detainees in prisons are subjected to torture-level practices, said, "Let our entire nation know, hear and share this cruelty. The cries of these women, these mothers, these children will haunt those who commit this evil, those who are complicit, and everyone who remains silent."

İmamoğlu made the following statement on his new X account, the Presidential Candidate Office: "Dear nation, this is a torture alert. Prisoners who have no other crime than working with me and serving İstanbul, and against whom there is not the slightest evidence, are being systematically tortured and mistreated. This cruelty is being inflicted especially on women. They are being sent to prisons far from their families, transported in shackles for 7-8 hours in cages measuring 1 square metre, left lying on the ground, and held in filthy cells. We know very well why this torture is being carried out. Those who planned this conspiracy have no evidence; they want to force everyone into becoming ‘slanderers’ through coercion, blackmail, threats, and torture. They think they can get out of the hole they have fallen into this way. Let our entire nation know, hear and share this oppression. The cries of these women, these mothers, these children will haunt those who committed this evil, those who were complicit, and everyone who remained silent."

THEY TRANSPORTED THEM IN SHACKLES

Dr. İpek Elif Atayman, the former General Manager of Medya A.Ş. mentioned in Ekrem İmamoğlu's message, wrote about the mistreatment she suffered under the title ‘Afyon Torture.’ Atayman stated, “I was held in a cell for 72 days, then in a dormitory for five days. Then, with a piece of bread, my wrists shackled for 7.5 hours, I was transported to Afyon in a one-square-metre armoured cabin. My wrists are bruised from the shackles. Here, I am lying on the floor. My belongings are in a trash bag. I am only allowed a 10-minute visit once a week. This is not a trial; this is clear punishment."

Some of the violations suffered by those arrested in the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality operations are as follows:

• Mahir Polat, Deputy Secretary General of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, was unable to be released despite his health problems and was taken to hospital several times.

• Those taken into custody stated in their statements that they were held for days without being given food in the detention centre.

• Among them, Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe, Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, and Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgün were lined up in a row and their images were shared.

• On 23 March, during the fifth wave of operations targeting the İBB, 14 detainees were transferred from Silivri to prisons outside the province.

• Obstacles are being created regarding the detainees' meetings with their families and lawyers.

Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled İşkence sistematik hâle geldi, published in BirGün newspaper on June 12, 2025.