Turkish Minister of the Interior Süleyman Soylu assured on Friday that the government of Turkey will assist in reforming the prisons of Maldives.
Soylu made this statement in a meeting held with Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla at Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of Minister Imran's visit to the Eurasian country.
During the meeting, Soylu also vowed to aid Maldives in improving the operations of Maldives Police Service.
In addition, the two ministers exchanged dialogue on further strengthening the bilateral relations between Turkey and Maldives.
Following the official meeting, which marks the first time that a Maldivian Home Minister met with a Turkish Interior Minister, Soylu offered a special lunch for the Maldivian delegation.
Restoring public trust in the Police and reforming prisons are amongst the key pledges of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration.
The government aims to improve prison conditions, guarantee human rights for detainee and adopt rehabilitation policies in prisons instead of punishment. In order to achieve these goals, Home Minister Imran is seeking help from international communities.
As part of prison reform, Male' Prison's Annex One was recently renovated while a section of Dhoonidhoo Prison was demolished to make space for the construction of new cells.
Moreover, the state has conducted various programmes to further train prison officers.