Forensic psychiatry in Turkiye

Abstract

Turkiye, with its origins in an enduring civilisation rooted in preceding Turkish states from ancient and medieval eras, possesses its own firmly established legal traditions. Legislation concerning to the mentally ill was introduced post the French Revolution in the Ottoman Empire and underwent reforms with the advent of Turkiye’s modern Republic in 1923, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This remains an ongoing process of enhancement, despite the absence of a well-established mental health law. Although forensic psychiatry is not considered to be an official subspecialty of psychiatry in Turkiye, the former constitutes a considerable amount of psychiatric practice in the country today. This article provides an overview of the legal basis and the organisation of forensic psychiatry in Turkiye. The primary forensic psychiatric practices of expertise, court-ordered treatments and prison psychiatry are described. Facilities as well as models of care are outlined. Finally, we consider the strengths and challenges of forensic psychiatry in Turkiye, to summarise the practice and system as well as to address rooms for improvement and highlight their possible reflections on the future.