Istanbul-Armenian writer, linguist, reporter and columnist Sevan Nisanyan, who escaped prison and fled Turkey in 2017, has been granted Armenian citizenship.

“I received my Armenian passport and citizenship papers today from Mr Fadey Charchoghliyan, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia in Athens.

“I take pride in being a member of a peaceful and civilized nation that has withstood the tribulations of history by its labor alone.

“I thank Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and all others who helped me achieve this great honor,” he said in a post on Facebook. 

Nisanyan was jailed in Turkey in December 2014, for “construction infractions” and sentenced to over 11 years in prison. The charges that had him locked up stemmed from the renovations and additions to hishotels in Sirince, an old Greek village in Izmir that has become a tourist destination thanks to Nisanyan and his rustic hotel business. However, many intellectuals believed Nisanyan was jailed due to his book ‘The Wrong Republic’, in which he dared to criticize the official history of Turkey.