page_title: Sevan Nişanyan
section_title: Rock Tomb
hierarchical_section_title: Sevan Nişanyan / Rock Tomb
caption_attribution_description: English: Sevan Nişanyan built rock tomb in Şirince
context_page_description: Sevan Nişanyan is a Turkish-Armenian journalist and travel writer.
  An author of a number of books, Nişanyan was awarded the Ayşe Nur Zarakolu Liberty Award of the Turkish Human Rights Association in 2004 for his contributions to greater freedom of speech.
  He is also known for his work to restore a semi-derelict village, Şirince, near Turkey’s Aegean coast.
  Sevan Nişanyan was handed a cumulative jail sentence of 16 years and 7 months for alleged building infractions after he criticized the government’s attempts to prohibit criticism of the prophet Muhammad, in a blog entry in September 2012. However, he escaped prison in July 2017 and established in Athens, where he intends to apply for political asylum according to an interview he gave to the Belgian daily La Libre Belgique. He currently lives in exile in Samos about which he has said "I am grateful to providence that the goatf***ers who run Turkey gave me, unintentionally, this splendid opportunity."
context_section_description: In 2012 Nişanyan unveiled his Rock Tomb, an Ionic order facade in the manner of ancient Lycian rock tombs, measuring eight by five metres, carved into a limestone cliff facing the Mathematics Village near Şirince. The carving was done using hand tools, and took three years to complete. Nişanyan drew up the design and contributed much of the labor.
caption: The "Rock Tomb" in Şirince.
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