The victims of the September 12 coup described the torture center known as "C5."

12.09.2025 13:20

The victims of the September 12, 1980 coup still cannot forget what they experienced, even after 45 years. Cevdet Karabıyık, one of the prisoners who described the inhumane practices they were subjected to, stated, "Before coming to prison, I was tortured for 8 days in C5. There were torture devices on the wall known as the Palestinian hanging. There was a system where electricity was applied."

The prisoners who faced the ugliest face of the September 12, 1980 coup in prison expressed that they could never forget those memories. It was reported that in prisons where inhumane tortures were carried out, many copies of the Quran were torn, special torture rooms were established, and not only the prisoners but also their families were tortured, with systematic beatings occurring every day.

One of the victims, Hakverdi Satılmış, stated that he still flinches when someone approaches him quietly, while Cevdet Karabıyık shared that he was tortured for 8 days in the torture chambers known as "C5." Nevzat Bor, who said that Mustafa Pehlivanoğlu was executed unjustly, noted that there was additional hatred towards the ward where he was held in prison and that more torture was inflicted there.

"THEY TORTURED MY MOTHER"

Hakverdi Satılmış mentioned that he arrived at Ulucanlar Prison in April 1978 when he was a 15-16 year old high school student. He stated that he became acquainted with Mamak Prison after the September 12 coup, saying, "We were taken to a special torture chamber called C5 in Mamak Prison. A torture chamber was established with the police and Prosecutor Nurettin Soyer. They inflicted inhumane tortures. We stayed in C5 for 36 days. During those 36 days, they brought my mother. They tortured my mother. The torture inflicted on us did not bother us as much, but the screams of our mothers, our sisters, and the wives of our friends were extremely painful for us," he said.

"QURANS WERE TORN"

Satılmış, who stated that he spent 16 days in a cage where animals were kept in Mamak Prison, said, "Mamak is a separate oppression, a separate torture chamber, there is no humanity there. It is forbidden to pray, it is forbidden to fast. Many copies of the Quran were torn. We experienced these under the supervision of Prosecutor Nurettin Soyer. Handfuls of stones came out from the caravans. They were throwing dead rats into the rice. We struggled to survive with these. In Mamak Prison, there was a 3-minute visitation right. We would have visits during the main hearing. Our parents could not see our faces," he expressed.

Stating that the tortures left a psychological impact, Satılmış said, "When my mother nudges me while I am sleeping and says 'Get up,' I jump up. This effect still continues. Reflexively, when someone approaches us quietly, we flinch and turn around. We go into a defensive reflex," he added.

"I WAS TORTURED FOR 8 DAYS IN C5"

Cevdet Karabıyık, who said he was taken outside by soldiers around 10:00 PM when he first arrived at the prison, stated that he was hit with a baton on his hands and said:

"When I went outside, there was about 30-40 centimeters of snow on the ground. They told me to do push-ups. I said, 'I don't know how.' They explained it to me. I took the push-up position. I was buried in snow up to my elbows. While doing push-ups, I counted from 1 to 10 and then back to 1 to 10 again. This process lasted about 15-20 minutes. The other soldier next to the one giving commands said, 'The guy just arrived, he doesn't even know how to do push-ups.' The commanding soldier replied, 'Don't interfere, I am responsible for this place.' Of course, at that moment, he was hitting my calves with a baton. I was torn between enduring the pain of my freezing hands or the pain of the baton hitting my calves, and after 3-5 minutes, they lifted me up. When I entered, I couldn't move my hands. My friends inside applied cream and gave me a pencil. I rubbed my hands together to ease the pain a little. Before coming to prison, I was tortured for 8 days in C5. There were torture devices on the wall called the Palestinian hangers. There was a system that delivered electricity."

"WE WERE SUBJECTED TO SPECIAL TORTURE IN BLOCK A"

Nevzat Bor, who stated that he was in a cell on the day of the coup, mentioned that Fikri Arkan, who was in another cell, shouted, "Everyone fill the buckets with water. If they throw tear gas bombs, immediately grab them and throw them into the bucket. Wet the blankets you are lying on and throw them at the bombs that fall into the corridor," due to the risk of soldiers throwing tear gas bombs. Bor said, "They threw tear gas bombs. We resisted quite a bit by throwing the ones we caught into the buckets and the ones we couldn't catch with blankets. For quite a while, they couldn't enter the section where our solitary confinement was. Later, they entered. At that moment, we broke the doors and went out into the corridors. This situation was very upsetting for them. They subjected us, who were in solitary confinement in Block A, to special torture," he stated.

"IT WAS A ROUTINE BEATING EVERY DAY"

Despite everyone talking about the tortures carried out in Diyarbakır Prison after September 12, Bor emphasized that very severe tortures were also inflicted in Mamak Prison, stating, "Periodic line beatings were carried out. When you first went out to the yard and when returning, there would definitely be a line beating. Then we would return to the wards or cells in a marching manner. This was a routine beating every day. Besides that, when going from the ward to the court, you would also go in a marching manner and would be beaten while going and coming back. You would also be beaten during counts," he explained.

"THEY MADE US PAY EXTRA DUE TO THE ESCAPE OF OUR 2 DEATH SENTENCE FRIENDS"

Bor, who did not want to go into detail about Mustafa Pehlivanoğlu's escape process, stated that it was a plan they made entirely on their own, saying, "The reason we suffered more than the leftists was that the escape of Mustafa Pehlivanoğlu and İsa Armağan, our two friends sentenced to death, was very painful for them. Therefore, they made us pay extra for that escape. In addition to the tortures inflicted due to the nature of September 12, there were also extra tortures stemming from the resentment of the personnel there," he said.

Bor continued, explaining that İsa Armağan was re-arrested but Mustafa Pehlivanoğlu confessed under the pressure of Nurettin Soyer:

"Nurettin Soyer said, 'We won't hang you, we will do this and that.' They took some statements, but despite that, they hanged him. They deceived the boy in a terrible way. At that time, I was going to court. Mustafa had also been caught."Sure, here is the translated text while preserving the original HTML structure and translating the `title` and `alt` attributes within the `img` tags as well:



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While sitting side by side on the concrete in the prosecutor's office, he told me about some of the events that happened to me. He recounted the promises made by Nurettin Soyer. For example, Mustafa had no crime. He was just sitting in the car at the time of the incident. He has not harmed anyone or drawn a weapon. He was just a man present at the scene, but he was executed.

"SEPTEMBER 12 SHOWED ITS INHUMANE FACE MOST THROUGH PRISONS"

Merve Bayıksel, the person in charge of the Ulucanlar Prison Museum, noted that Ulucanlar Prison serves as an important memory of Turkey's political history, stating:

"This year marks the 45th anniversary of the September 12, 1980 coup. Time may have passed for us in numbers, but that time does not pass for those people. For them, it is a process filled with great pain, during which they try to forget those times. September 12 showed its inhumane face most through prisons. Ulucanlar Prison is now a museum and serves as a social memory and a place of conscience to ensure that such times are not experienced again."

Despite the 45 years that have passed, the screams of tortured prisoners still echo on the walls of the Ulucanlar Prison Museum, which has been restored and converted into a museum by the Altındağ Municipality.