President Gül shares observations on Ulucanlar Prison on Twitter

Gül was able to view the belongings of former inmates and all of the prison's wards during his visit, accompanied by officials from Ankara's Altındağ Municipality. The formerly infamous prison, which now bears the name Ulucanlar Prison Museum and Culture and Arts Center, had held numerous figures from Turkish history, including late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, novelist Yaşar Kemal, writer and theologian Mustafa İslamoğlu and Marxist-Leninist political activists Deniz Gezmiş, Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan.

“Ulucanlar is a reminder of the fact that when there is a lack of democracy and justice, there can be nothing but cruelty,” wrote Gül via his Twitter account. He added that Turkey should maintain its democracy and defend the people's rights so as not to let what happened in the former prison ever happen again.

Gül also thanked the Altındağ Municipality for their contribution in converting the prison into a museum and for preserving the testimonies of people who had been imprisoned there. The president noted that he was familiar with the former conditions at the prison as he had visited a friend of his in Ulucanlar Prison many years ago.