Marmara Prison

The need for a prison located far from the inhabited areas became necessary as Istanbul's biggest prison, the Bayrampaşa Prison, although built in the mid-1960s in the outskirts, remained within the city limits due to the city's rapid expansion. Another important reason was to abandon outdated facilities in accordance with the initiated prison reform for an effective penal system.[3]

The construction of Silivri Prison began in 2005, and it took three years to complete. Covering an area of 437,000 m² (4,700,000 sq ft) and stretching over 955,354 m² (10,283,340 sq ft) land, the prison complex is composed of nine blocks, one open and eight L-type closed correctional institutions having a total capacity for 10,904 inmates.[5][6][7]

Each of the eight L-type closed correctional blocks consists of 61 units for up to 21 inmates, four rooms for three and 40 single rooms. Single rooms or rooms for three are 12.45 m² (134.0 sq ft), open courtyards are 65.19 m² (701.7 sq ft), the intercommunity unit is 56.59 m² (609.1 sq ft), and the unit that accommodates up to 21 people is 208.93 m² (2,248.9 sq ft). Each section has an aerial input for TV, a radio, a small kitchen, a power socket and an alarm button to call for prison staff in case of emergency.[6]

The nine blocks are separately reachable beyond the main entrance and are also independently administered by separate directors and their own staff. Each block has three separate gates, one for defendants and convicts, one for personnel, lawyers and visitors and another one for material.[7]

The complex has a parking lot for 1,500 cars, a waiting lounge at the entrance for visitors, a health care institution, a mosque, six classrooms, eight vocational training workshops, two open-air sports grounds, an indoor sports center, a library, a shopping market, a day-care center, a restaurant, 500 staff accommodations and social facilities. Six power distribution units and two water stations supply the facility.[6][7] For hearings with a high number of defendants or convicts of high security risk, two courtrooms, office rooms for judges and prosecutors are also available inside the campus.[5]

Around 17,000 people including 2,000 service people and 1,500 visitors sojourn in the complex daily.[7] It is reported that the cost of the construction was around 100 million TRL[5] (approx. US$67 million at the time, and around US$6.8 million in 2022).

In 2022, the prison's name was changed to Marmara Prison.[4]

In the prison, which is equipped with state-of-the-art security devices at the checkpoints, 134 staff personnel are employed. At the entrances and exits, there are eye-sensitive doors and x-ray devices for biometric electronic scan.[6]

Every person, even prison director, prosecutor or visitor, is screened by x-ray devices before entering the waiting hall. The device is monitored on two separate displays. Additionally, high-resolution images of the irises of the eyes of the people, prison personnel's once only and the visitors' each time, are recorded for authentication by iris recognition.[7]

A picture of every inmate is fixed on the outer wall of his cell. Inmates can lock up the door of their cells from the inside to protect themselves against attacks. The cell door can be opened with guard's key. The inmates can also alarm the prison security by pushing a button on the cell wall.[7]

For the outdoor security of the facility, gendarmerie units are responsible.[6]

With the establishment of modern correctional facilities in Turkey, defendants and convicts are detained in different prisons classified after the type of crime. In Silivri Prison, a separate wing is assigned to male criminals between 18 and 21 years of age convicted of juvenile delinquency other than of drug-related crime. The penal reform aiming at improvement of activities like education and training, penological rehabilitation and psychosocial rehabilitation services is fulfilled in Silivri Prison.[3]

Right after the completion of the complex, around 3,500 of the 5,500 inmates of the 40-year-old Bayrampaşa Prison were transferred to Silivri. The relocation of the defendants and the convicts charged for crimes like drug offense, theft, murder or robbery started on June 6, 2008.[5]

The Ergenekon trials, relating to the Ergenekon organization, an alleged clandestine network formed by former and active military and security officers, politicians, journalists, academics and mafia leaders, who allegedly attempted to overthrow the government, is being held since October 20, 2008 in the purpose-built Silivri Prison courtroom.[2]

For security reasons, Silivri Prison Complex was chosen to host the Ergenekon trial. In order to avoid the risky and time-consuming transportation of the confined suspects to a courthouse in 80 km (50 mi) away Istanbul, the hearings are held at the courtroom inside the prison complex.[1]

However, as the number of defendants and hence the number of lawyers attending the hearings increased in process of the trial, the existing courtroom became unsatisfactory. In June 2009, the prison's sport hall was converted for the term of the trial into a maxi courtroom with a capacity for 753 people including defendants, witnesses, lawyers, spectators and the press members. A box with railing, sufficiently large for 180 defendants, is situated in the middle of the courtroom.[8][9]

Meanwhile, the former courtroom, with an original capacity for 203 people, was also enlarged to hold 405 people.[9]

Among the Turkish youth, "Silivri is cold" is a humorous phrase used to indicate a person's concern of expressing critical opinions towards Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan due to censorship in country and Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code.[10][11]