Turkey coup: Release for 38,000 prisoners jailed before coup

Some 183,000 people are being held in Turkey's prisons, which have been swelled by people detained over the coup

Turkey is to release conditionally 38,000 prisoners jailed before last month's failed coup, while its jails are crowded with new detainees.

Some 23,000 people have been detained or arrested since the July coup, although the government has not said its move is to free up space for them.


The justice minister said those who had served half their sentence, rather than two-thirds, would be eligible.
Crimes such as murder and sex abuse would be excluded, he said.

It is clear that the post-coup clampdown has stretched the prison service to breaking point and extra capacity is urgently needed, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports from Istanbul.