Turkish-Armenian linguist and writer Sevan Nişanyan, who escaped from a prison in İzmir last month, has said money he kept in a bank account was seized by the Turkish government.
Jailed on nine charges including illegal construction in 2014, Nişanyan escaped from Foça Prison in Turkey’s western province of İzmir on July 14 and said he applied for political asylum in Greece on July 26. The writer was sentenced to a total of 17 years in jail, the Agos newspaper had earlier said.
“I had TL 12,000 [$3,400] for dark days. I have found out that Turkey seized it as they couldn’t find anything else. This is not a state, this is a group of gangsters,” Nişanyan wrote on his Facebook account.
Turkey earlier seized properties belonging to several journalists and businessmen as part of the Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown. (Turkey Purge)