Mad vandalism:Turkey to demolish hotels of outspoken Armenian entrepreneur-scholar

Sevan Nisanyan, the owner of Nisanyan Hotels, and a linguist, columnist, academic, and outspoken critic, is facing a demolition order on his hotels throughout Turkey. In a country packed with illegal constructions, the targeting of the Nisanyan Hotels speaks volumes about Turkey's persecution of its minority citizens who dare to raise their voice against the government or its denialist policies, writes staff writer for the Armenian Weekly Nanore Barsoumian.

It is an act of mad vandalism, but I doubt very much that they will be able to carry it out.

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

"I have been active in preserving the historic heritage of the village. It was mostly through my activities that Sirince has now become a well-known tourist destination," he told the Armenian Weekly.

Nisanyan purchased and renovated many houses in Sirince, using traditional methods of building and preserving the aesthetics of the area. He then converted those houses into what today is known as the Nisanyan Hotels.

"As far as I know, this is the first - and I think only - commercial establishment in the history of the Turkish Republic that carries an openly Armenian name," he said.

Nisanyan is certainly a passionate and persistent man, and a stickler for justice when it comes to saving his "babies," as he calls his houses. "The local bureaucracy regarded my activities with hostility from day one. I was harassed constantly, permissions were either denied or delayed by 10 years or more, I had to face more than 30 court cases, was fined repeatedly, arrested, jailed, and so on. I persevered, and my perseverance made them even angrier."

His battle has been going on for 15 years, and now he may lose all that he has built. "They have passed a decision to demolish every single house I have built in 15 years. The governor of Izmir is behind the decision. He is a man notorious as the former governor of a Kurdish province where army-run assassination squads operated freely."

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

Add to those the demolition order, the court cases following his views that are often deemed as "insulting Turkishness," and the threats he receives from individuals with ultra-nationalist mindsets, and a bleak reality emerges for the Armenian population of Turkey.

"Although there is much willingness now among the Turkish elite to revise Turkey's traditional attitude toward minorities, the old habits die hard in the bureaucracy. There is instinctive hostility toward an Armenian. It turns rabid when that Armenian is also an outspoken critic of the Turkish system," Nisanyan told the Weekly.

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. He has spoken publically about the Armenian Genocide, winning him more than a few enemies. His most recent comments, made during a Turkish television debate program, resulted in the punishment of the airing station by Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), who claimed Nisanyan's comments were excessively critical and that they "humiliated the Republic of Turkey."

However, Nisanyan does hold on to a ray of optimism, and views this current obstacle as an opportunity for Turkey's authorities to turn a new page in upholding and protecting minority rights.

"I believe this is a test case for the Erdogan government's willingness to improve minority rights in Turkey. I believe it is also a test case that will show if Armenians can go on living freely and securely in this country, or whether the old system of state thuggery will go on unchanged," he said.