“Aysel’s sentence must be postponed at once and her treatment must start outside. We see there is no alternative,” Buldan said.

Tugluk was arrested in December 2016 over terrorism charges. She is held in the Kandira Prison in north-western Kocaeli province, along with several other high-profile Kurdish politicians facing similar charges.

The veteran politician and human rights lawyer is also facing trial in the Kobane case, where 108 HDP members are accused of instigating three days of street protests in 2014 where more than 30 people lost their lives.

The court overseeing the case demanded Tugluk attend a hearing via video conference, Buldan said. Tugluk was taken to a hospital before her appearance, which affected her badly, she added.

“She couldn’t explain this to us herself, she struggled to put up to the glass a note that her cellmate had written,” she said.

Buldan said the prison administration had told Tugluk’s lawyers and the HDP that she is having great difficulty seeing to her daily needs. “They say they have observed great changes to Aysel’s behavior, demeanor and speech,” she said. “Two officials even said they were feeling bad for her. They try to help her during hospital visits, but they say some things are above their limits.”

Tugluk’s family were keeping her dementia quiet, however, they have started to speak about it publicly as her condition continues to worsen behind bars. The family says Tugluk’s health problems started after her mother’s death in 2017. At the time, a nationalist group had attacked Hatun Tugluk’s funeral and the elderly woman’s body had to be exhumed and moved from Ankara and buried again in their hometown Tunceli.

The Kocaeli University diagnosed Tugluk with dementia in March and issued a report saying she could not remain in prison alone. However, the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institution (ATK) issued a contradicting report in September, leading to the court rejecting appeals for her release.

The university had prepared its report after six months of constant monitoring, Tugluk’s brother Alaattin Tugluk told Bianet. “But the ATK saw her for one day, for two hours.”

“I’m not trying to get Aysel released. My priority is her health, and that she receives the correct diagnosis and treatment,” Alaattin added.

“My sister stopped us; she did not want to make headlines like this. She did not want to appear to be taking advantage of her condition. But it has progressed so far that she does not recognize us anymore,” he said.

“This is a fully political decision. The ATK has done this to others as well,” Buldan said. “Almost all political prisoners who are sick face the same attitude.”

There have been back-to-back deaths in prisons in the past week, Buldan said. “These people are not released, even as they reach a terminal stage. They are not allowed to spend their final days with their families.”

In the north-western Tekirdag province, Vedat Erkmen, serving a life sentence, was found dead in his cell on Dec. 19. His family was told the incident had been a suicide.

Ilyas Demir, also serving a life sentence in the north-western Bolu province, was found dead in his cell on Dec. 17. Demir had been suffering from mental health conditions.

Halil Gunes, a cancer patient serving a life sentence, was found dead in his cell in the south-eastern Diyarbakır province on Dec. 15. His appeals to be released due to his condition had been rejected.

Abdulrezzak Suyur, another cancer patient, lost his life in the western Izmir province on the same day.

Dec. 15 also saw Salih Togrul, who had suffered a stroke while in prison, lose his life in the southern Mersin province.

On Dec. 9, Garibe Gezer, another Kurdish politician in the Kandıra Prison, was found dead in her cell. The prison administration said she had committed suicide. Gezer had reported sexual abuse and mistreatment by prison guards.

“Turkey’s prisons have become centers of torture and ill-treatment,” the HDP said in a statement. “There are also many sick prisoners who need the attention of the international community.”

Currently there are at least 1,605 sick prisoners in Turkey.

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