Turkish Prisons Charge for Translation, Blocking Inmates' Right to Communicate

A Turkish lawmaker has brought a critical human rights issue to parliament, revealing that foreign inmates are being charged fees for translation services when they wish to correspond in their native language. Sevda Karaca, a MP from the Labour Party (EMEP), stated that demanding payment from prisoners for official translation effectively eliminates their fundamental right to communication. The practice primarily impacts non-Turkish speaking prisoners who rely on translators to write or read letters. Karaca argues this financial barrier turns prisons into spaces of arbitrary treatment and discrimination. By making communication unaffordable, the policy isolates foreign inmates from their support networks outside. The issue is now formally on the parliamentary agenda, prompting a call for review of the regulation to ensure all prisoners can exercise their communication rights regardless of language or financial means.