Both in terms of their architecture and especially in terms of the way they are run, there are serious causes for concern. During the prison transfers, some inmates say they were beaten, others that they were raped with truncheons. The justice ministry has said it will investigate, but it refused to discuss the issue with human rights groups, and turned down their requests to visit the new jails. The next stage of the crisis is looming. Hundreds of prisoners are on hunger strike, some reportedly for more than 70 days.
Doctors expect deaths soon.
The government initially said it would force medical experts to intervene, but it seems to have changed its mind. The state has done what was in its power. The prison situation has also had wider repercussions. Human rights groups have been warned that criticism of the F-type prisons could be a criminal offence. Meanwhile, there have been running battles between leftwing demonstrators and the police, and yesterday police arrested 34 people after they tried to lay a black wreath outside the building of Mr Ecevit's Democratic Left party, according to the state-run Anatolian news agency.