Authorities of the Turkish prison, where well-known Istanbul Armenian writer, linguist, journalist and columnist Sevan Nișanyan is incarcerated, have decided to grant him furlough on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

Nișanyan himself informed about the aforementioned via social networking websites inviting all his friends to an Istanbul restaurant on December 21, to celebrate his 60th birthday.

He noted that the furlough will be granted as of December 16.

In December 2013, the Armenian intellectual was sentenced to prison on charges of illegal construction, and he is already serving time.   

And in December 2014, a Turkish administrative court had ruled that Nișanyan had violated the law on the preservation of cultural and natural resources. As a result, the court had sentenced him to five years, two months and fifteen days in prison plus a 12,600-lira (approx. $5,637, at the time) fine.

With this new sentence, Sevan Nișanyan’s total prison term had amounted to eleven years and eight months.

Sevan Nișanyan has constantly raised the Armenian Genocide issue in Turkey, and stood out by his fearless demeanor in the country.