Sevan Nishanyan Arrested in Greece Could Face Deportation to Turkey

ATHENS — Prominent Istanbul-Armenian writer living under a temporary permit in Greece after fleeing a Turkish prison has been arrested and faces deportation, his wife said on Jan. 1.

Sevan Nishanyan, a 66-year-old linguist and blogger, was detained on the island of Samos on Dec. 30 after Greek authorities refused to renew his residence permit, his wife Ira Tzourou said on Facebook and Twitter. “Greece is about to make a decision to deport Armenian citizen Sevan Nishanyan to Turkey.” She said

A Samos court on Jan. 3 is to decide whether he will be deported to Turkey or Armenia, she said.

Greek police could not immediately confirm the case, but Nishanyan had said in October 2021 that he has been declared “persona non grata” by the Athens administration.

The comprehensive study he made on the Turkish and Bulgarian names of settlements in the northern part of Greece could be the main reason, according to Nishanyan.

Nishanyan had been jailed in Turkey in 2014 on charges of illegal construction in Sirince, an Aegean village in the hills amidst grapevines, peach and apple orchards.

He escaped from a low-security prison in 2017 and settled in Greece.