Linguist and academic Sevan Nisanyan, residing in Istanbul, has donated his much-debated houses in the Sirince village of the Aegean province of Izmir to an educational foundation.

Nisanyan on Feb 24 handed over the title deeds of his 22 buildings – some serving as boutique hotels – to the Nesin Foundation, headed by Professor Ali Nesin, son of prominent Turkish intellectual Aziz Nesin.

Some buildings – including the ones owned by Nisanyan – in Sirince, seven kilometers from Selcuk, were set to be demolished last week on the grounds that they had been illegally restored but the demolition was delayed with a last-minute decision from the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

“I will continue to manage the hotels in the name of the foundation,” Nisanyan told Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review over the phone.

Nisanyan said the recent developments regarding the houses made him realize that “the property limits my freedom.” “I am in debt to tens of thousands of people who have supported me for these houses,” he added. “I am paying my debt to those people by donating these houses to the Nesin Foundation, which plays a very important role in helping children.”

The Nesin Foundation owns a house in Istanbul’s Catalca district, where it provides aid and shelter to low-income children. Nisanyan said his fight against the demolition decision was considered by some people as a struggle to keep his possessions. “But the fight was not for money, it was for Sirince, to which I’m committed with love and passion.”

He said the donation was not a move to stop the demolitions, either. “But now no one can demolish these buildings,” said Nisanyan. “If they do, the state will remain under the ruins.”