Sevan Nisanyan Receives Asylum in Greece

He added, “Turkey was always a very difficult country to govern; now the difficulties have multiplied beyond control. The country is fighting with virtually every other country in the world, but more importantly, it is at war with itself. The outcome of so much bad energy is difficult to predict. In any case, it looks like it will not be a happy outcome.”

Nisanyan said in the interview that while Turkish prisons are not enjoyable place, nor are they the pits of horror one may imagine.

“Turkish prisons are certainly not what they used to be 30 years ago. They are not at all like what you see in the film ‘Midnight Express.’ The buildings and infrastructure are quite modern, the personnel is reasonably well-trained and efficient, the regulations extremely detailed and mechanically applied. This makes the prisons psychologically more oppressive places than before. Total isolation and dehumanization may sometimes be worse than physical brutality,” he said.

“In three and a half years I changed eight institutions. I was treated very correctly on account of both my age and my social position. I was the only Armenian – the only non-Turk and non-Muslim in fact — everywhere I went. This never posed a problem. Most inmates thought this something exotic and interesting, and made a double effort to befriend and/or protect me. I believe the prison administrators were also under strict instructions to treat me correctly and to make sure there were no security issues,” he added.

He noted, “The bureaucracy of Turkey is an absurd and unreasonable mechanism, which lives in an insane world of dreams. If one understands its logic, he can easily play it on his fingers.”

While in prison, he wrote a book about the history of the Turkish language, as well as dialogue on religion and religions. He added, “In addition, I wrote short book from my letters to my little girl, Anahit, although I’m not sure if I want to publish it.”