Well-known Istanbul journalist, Taraf newspaper correspondent Sevan Nisanyan was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison on charges of “illegal construction.”

The buildings owned by Nisanyan – in Sirince, seven kilometers from Selcuk, were set to be demolished on the grounds that they had been illegally restored.

The court imposed a fine of 160 TL on Nisanyan and deprived him of some privileges. In his interview to Zaman newspaper, he said the whole situation reminds him of a child’s play. “I forgive the judge who passed the sentence,” Nisanyan said.

Earlier, Nisanyan donated his much-debated houses 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.