Nisanyan to Sue Turkey at European Court

Turkish-Armenian entrepreneur and scholar Sevan Nisanyan is appealing to the European Court for Human Rights to stop the demolition order on his hotels.

Sevan Nisanyan

Nisanyan told the Armenian Weekly in an email that he is “now appealing to the European Court for Human Rights.”

The Nisanyan Hotels are located in Sirince, Izmir, a village of around 600 inhabitants in the Aegean hills. Nisanyan settled there 15 years ago, and almost single-handedly turned the small village into a booming tourist spot.

Nisanyan purchased and renovated many houses in Sirince, using traditional methods of building while preserving the aesthetics that are authentic to the area. He then converted them into what are known today as the Nisanyan Hotels.

Nisanyan noted that to date, 16 criminal charges have been brought against him–all related to “unauthorized construction,” “unauthorized repair work,” and “defying government orders”– calling for a 50-year prison sentence. Five cases have concluded, serving him with a total of 10.5 years in prison. His appeals are pending.

Nisanyan, who was awarded the 2004 Freedom of Thought Award by the Human Rights Association of Turkey, has often voiced views that are controversial in the tightly censored Turkish society. His last comments about the Armenian Genocide, made during a Turkish television debate program, resulted in the punishment of the airing station by Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), which claimed Nisanyan’s comments were excessively critical and “humiliated the Republic of Turkey.”

Many believe that the demolition order is meant to punish Nisanyan for his outspokenness (click here for more details).

In Nisanyan’s own words to the Weekly, “’The Armenian who openly defies the Turkish state is something they cannot tolerate.”

Nanore Barsoumian

Nanore Barsoumian

Nanore Barsoumian was the editor of the Armenian Weekly from 2014 to 2016. She served as assistant editor of the Armenian Weekly from 2010 to 2014. Her writings focus on human rights, politics, poverty, and environmental and gender issues. She has reported from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabagh, Javakhk and Turkey. She earned her B.A. degree in Political Science and English and her M.A. in Conflict Resolution from the University of Massachusetts (Boston).
Nanore Barsoumian

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4 Comments

  1. Mr. Nisanyan, I wish you great strength and patience.. I hope you win and show them bastards that they can’t shut down an Armenian…

    May God be with you and know that you have plenty of supporters behind you…

    Gayane

  2. Building code violations can result in 50 years of jail time in Turkey?  If that is the case, than Turkey better start building a lot more jails because there are countless structures built on stolen land all across the former Armenian vilayets which are breaking code.  Not to mention Incirlik Air Base which sits on Armenian land for which the deed still exists.
     
    Mr. Nisanyan is a courageous man, and he has my prayers for a good outcome.

  3. I guess the case against Turkey will be based on Art. 1, Protocol 1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (ECHR), which will not be easy, when I read the background of the facts.

    Below the article:
    “Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law.
    The preceding provisions shall not, however, in any way impair the right of a State to enforce such laws as it deems necessary to control the use of property in accordance with the general interest or to secure the payment of taxes or other contributions or penalties.”

    This article has a big jurisprudence and is quite complicated. If the case is admitted to the European Court of the Human Rights, it may take years, as it usually does.

    So, only prayers will certainly not be enough. There must be a good lawyer who will dig in the case and facts and try to find statements in the jurisprudence and interpret the Article in the benefit of Mr. Nisanyan.

    And publicizing the case always helps, of course.

    I do wish mr. Nisanyan patience, perseverance and good luck.

  4. It amazes me how many Turkish Armenians still have a love affair with Turkey. Please understand that Turks are our worst enemies and all our actions must take that point of view. They will never be our friends because that is not the way Turks operate. They are ultra opportunists. They are called “the sick man of Europe” for a reason.
    Good luck to this poor Armenian soul who decided to do something good in Turkey.

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