Turkish prisons are hosting some 35,000 prisoners more than its overall capacity, according to official data.
In a letter to a parliamentary inquirty, the Justice Ministry has said there are 246,426 people convicted or awaiting trial in prison across Turkey which is above the maximum capacity by 35,152 people or 16.6 percent.
48,924 of the inmates were jailed on terror charges, the letter said.
The followers of the Gulen movement remain to be the largest group imprisoned over terror accusations with 34,241 people behind bars over ties to this group.
The anti-Gulenist investigations have targeted larger population though.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. The Turkish government blames the Gülen movement for the attempt while the group denies involvement.
More than 90,000 people have been remanded in pre-trial detention as part of the investigations so far.
Then number of those who were jailed as part of investigations into the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) stands at 10,286. Also, 1,270 people are behind bars for alleged ties to the the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
At the beginning of this year, Turkey had some 390 prisons with the government seeking to build another 40 prisons by the year-end. Another 100 currently-built prisons are expected to open in the later future.
