Metris Prison ( tr, Metris Cezaevi), or officially Metris Closed Penitentiary ( tr, Metris Kapalı Ceza İnfaz Kurumu) is a state

correctional institution A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

in the

Esenler Esenler is a district of Istanbul, Turkey, on its European side. Esenler is mainly densely packed, working class residential in the midst of its industrial neighbouring districts of Gaziosmanpaşa, Güngören and Bağcılar. The mayor is Tevfik ...

district of Istanbul Province in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The prison complex consists of two T-type buildings. The current prison director is Zeki Uzun.

Location

The Metris prison is situated in the Havaalanı neighborhood on the Eskiedirne Asfaltı (literally: Old Edirne Road). The complex is built on ground covering an area of .

History

The facility was established by the

Ministry of National Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and opened on April 17, 1981, for use as the Metris Military Prison during the martial law era following the 1980 coup d'état. It was transferred to the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

on August 1, 1988. Since then, it serves as the Metris Closed Penitentiary subordinated to the Bakırköy District Court. On March 18, 2007, the second T-type prison building entered service, and all detainees and convicts of the closed H-type prison were transferred to the new building. Another T-type prison building, the Prison #1, opened on May 31, 2008.

Mass prison break

Twenty-nine inmates escaped from the prison in the early hours of March 25, 1988, as it was still being administered by the military. Of the escapees, eleven were sentenced to the death penalty and eight to life imprisonment. They were all members of illegal extreme left-wing organizations, such as 19 members of the armed wing of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (TİKKO) – considered as extremely dangerous – three members of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey (TDKP/HK), one member of the Turkish Liberation Front (THKP/C), one member of the Revolutionary Left (Dev-Sol), and five members of the Revolutionary Path (Dev-Yol). The mass prison break took place through a -long secret tunnel, which was built in six months. The tunnel was dug up manually with spoons, and the extracted soil was dumped into the sewage system.

Notable inmates

İbrahim Akın İbrahim Akın (born 4 January 1984) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He is a part of the management of Altay. Career Akın started his career at Altay S.K. in the Türk Telekom League A before he was tr ...

(born 1984), footballer. Detained for match-fixing allegations. * Korcan Çelikay (born 1987), footballer. Detained for match-fixing allegations. * Tayfur Havutçu (born 1970), football coach, retired footballer. Detained for match-fixing allegations. *

Ümit Karan Ümit Karan (born October 1, 1976) is a Turkish football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Menemenspor. He played for Gençlerbirliği S.K., Ankaraspor, Galatasaray and Eskişehirspor. He made his international debut fo ...

(born 1976), retired footballer. Detained for match-fixing allegations. * Haluk Levent (born 1968), rock music singer. Convicted for check kiting. *

Bülent Uygun Bülent Uygun (born 1 August 1971) is a Turkish football manager and former player. He played as an attacking midfielder after starting his career as a striker, and was the captain of Fenerbahçe. His nickname is ''The Soldier''. Playing career ...

(born 1971), football coach, former footballer. Detained for match-fixing allegations. *

Aziz Yıldırım Aziz Yıldırım (born 2 November 1952) was the 36th chairman of the Turkish, He has Kurdish Origin multi-sport club Fenerbahçe SK. He lost the election held on 3 June 2018 to Ali Koç which made him the 37th president of the Turkish club. ...

(born 1952), businessman and chairman of the multi sport club Fenerbahçe S.K. Detained for one year due to match-fixing allegations. *

Hüseyin Yıldırım Hüseyin Yıldırım (born March 10, 1928) is a Turkish-American auto mechanic who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States for his courier role in the espionage activities of U.S. serviceman James Hall III during the Cold War er ...

(born 1928), Cold War-era spy sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States. Extradited to Turkey and incarcerated for one day only.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.metristcik.adalet.gov.tr/kurum.html , publisher=Metris 1 Nolu T Tipi kapalı Ceza İnfas Kurumu , title=Kurumumuz Hakkında Genel Bilgiler , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 {{cite web , url=http://www.metristcik.adalet.gov.tr/mdr.html , publisher=Metris 1 Nolu T Tipi kapalı Ceza İnfas Kurumu , title=Kurum Müdürünün Mesajı , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 {{cite news , url=http://gecmisgazete.com/haber/29-terorist-metris-askeri-cezaevi-nden-tunel-kazip-kacti?tamBoyut , newspaper=Geçmiş Gazete

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

, title=29 terörist, Metris Askeri Cezaevi'nden tünel kazıp kaçtı , date=1988-03-26 , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 {{cite news , url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/spor/futbol/20897860.asp , newspaper=

, title=Aziz Yıldırım 365 gün sonra serbest kaldı , date=2012-07-02 , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 {{cite news , url=http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7721769/turkey-match-fixing-scandal-punish-fixers-not-clubs-prime-minister-says , newspaper=ESPN Soccer, title=Turkish PM: Punish fixers in scandal , date=2012-03-22 , accessdate=2014-03-03 {{cite news , url=http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=194193 , newspaper=

, title=Hürriyet almaya çıktı Hürriyet'e yakalandı , authors=Aytalar, Ardıç & Asım Güneş , date=2004-01-07 , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 {{cite news , url=http://www.notdenizi.com/metris-cezaevi-2750/ , newspaper=Not Denizi , title=Metris Cezaevi-Cezaevıne Giren Ünlüler , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 {{cite news , url=http://www.turkiyesporgazetesi.com/metriste-5-vakit-namaza-basladi.html , newspaper=Türkiye Spor Gazetesi , title=Metris'te 5 Vakit Namaza Başladı , date=2011-09-09 , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20140303211615/http://www.turkiyesporgazetesi.com/metriste-5-vakit-namaza-basladi.html , archive-date=2014-03-03 , url-status=dead {{cite news , url=http://www.silvanmucadele.com/news_detail.php?id=6939 , newspaper=Silvan Mücadele , title=Metris Cezaevinde Yatan Ünlüler Başlarını Kuran'dan Kaldırmıyor , date=2011-10-14 , language=Turkish , accessdate=2014-03-03 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303192756/http://www.silvanmucadele.com/news_detail.php?id=6939 , archivedate=2014-03-03 1981 establishments in Turkey Government buildings completed in 1981 Prisons in Turkey Buildings and structures in Istanbul Esenler Military prisons