Turkey's infamous Diyarbakir prison empties for museum makeover

Diyarbakir prison, a symbol of torture and oppression for decades in Turkey, has finally closed to be made into a museum, but some activists see whitewashing on its bloodstained walls.
ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images
A photo taken on May 11, 2011, shows Kurdish defendants making victory signs from the window of a prison vehicle as they arrive for a hearing in a massive trial involving Kurdish mayors and prominent activists, in Diyarbakir, the main city of Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast. - ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images
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Andrew Wilks
@AndyWilks61

ISTANBUL — Turning the key in an oversized padlock fastened to the doors of Diyarbakir prison in southeast Turkey Sunday, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said he was ending one of the darkest periods in the country’s history. 

The imposing structure in the heart of the city — known for horrific human rights abuses in the 1980s and 1990s — is to reopen as a museum. 

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