The Prison Commission of Amed (Diyarbakır) Branch of the Chamber of Architects (MO), affiliated with the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), held a press conference regarding the situation of Diyarbakır Prison No. 5, which the government has decided to turn into a museum. Şerefhan Aydın, a member of the Prison Commission asked the government: "What are you hiding from the city in the Military Prison Building No. 5?"

Chamber of Architects not included in the process

Referring to the process of preparing the Diyarbakır Military Prison No. 5 project, which is the collective memory place of the entire society as well as the Kurdish people, Aydın said: “Many studies have been carried out so far, based on the concern and fact that the Ministry and the architectural office cannot fully reflect this truth to the project. Unfortunately, the pursuit of involvement of both us, the chamber of architects, and different institutions and personalities in the work initiated following the decision to transform Diyarbakır prison, which is the place where such traumatic events and practices took place, into a cultural center and ethnography museum, has not been accepted in any way."

Work being conducted secretly

Underlining that such projects that appeal to the whole society should not be left in the hands of just one architectural firm, Aydın said: “Such projects should be carried out in a way that is open to contributions from the first stage to the end, so that concerns and doubts do not arise. Unfortunately, until now, all work has been carried out in secret, without giving information to the witnesses of the period, the public, civil society and professional organizations. The Chamber of Architects is a constitutional professional organization working for the benefit of the public and society. Therefore, it sees itself as responsible for this work, whose subject is the city, space and memory. The public and sensitive people apply to our chamber and ask what is going on in the prison.”

Institutions are committing crimes

Aydın reminded that in order to get answers on all concerns, they applied to the Diyarbakır Surveying Monuments Directorate on 16 August 2023 for permission to examine what was happening inside the prison campus and document its current state. Emphasizing that no response has been given to the application yet, Aydın said: “We, therefore, directly applied to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on 29 September 2023, but we have not yet received any response from the ministry either. These institutions are committing a crime by not responding to our letters."

Call for sensitivity

Calling on the public for sensitivity, Aydın continued: “Why is the project process not carried out transparently, what is being hidden from whom? Why aren't we allowed to inspect the area? Are you destroying those remains inside that bear witness to brutal torture? We are concerned about this management approach. We are worried because they burned down the wall and built an artificial history. We are worried because they buried Hasankeyf. We are worried because they are already blowing up Geliyê Godernê with dynamite. We have difficulty predicting what this mentality can do in military prison No. 5, and we are worried. That's why we call on the public to be sensitive to this situation. This is also our call to the relevant institutions. We want them to provide us with the necessary means to investigate the area as soon as possible before an irreparable situation occurs on the prison site.”