April 26, 2018•Update: April 26, 2018
USAK, Turkey
A leather products factory in a prison in western Turkey last year earned profits of 5.5 million Turkish liras ($1.5 million), benefiting its 78 inmate employees.
The 12-year-old factory produces 130 variations of leather goods such as jackets, bags, coats, and vests, Mustafa Gumus, the chief prosecutor of the Usak province, told Anadolu Agency.
The made-to-order products are sold in 27 stores around Turkey and also online, he explained
The factory helps the inmates, he stated, saying they "find a chance to learn a trade and earn money, and after they do their time some of them set up their own factories."
The prison also offers courses, a bakery, and a solar power plant, Gumus stressed.
He added: "We save 350,000 Turkish liras (some $90,000) annually from the electric consumption with the plant."
Prisoners insured
Nuri Guven, the warden, said that last year the leather factory produced around 22,500 bags, jackets, coats, and vests.
Prisoners who want to work in the factory are chosen and trained by the jail, he explained.
He added that the jail insures all the prisoners in the factory and pays them salaries.
A number of Turkish jails have factories and workplaces to manufacture a variety of products, such as food, agricultural goods, textiles, and handcrafts.
Reporting by Soner Kilinc:Writing by Gokhan Ergocun
