YEREVAN—The government of Greece on Thursday granted a six-month temporary residency permit to Turkish-Armenian author and intellectual Sevan Nisanyan, who escaped from a Turkish prison earlier this month after serving three out of a 17-year sentence for violations of a construction code.

In an interview with Armenpress on Tuesday, Nisanyan had indicated that he had sought asylum from Greece saying, “I have always thought of Greece as my second or third homeland. It is a very beautiful and civilized country. I’ll be very happy to spend the new phase of my life there.”

On July 14, Nisanyan left the minimum security prison on a furlough and never returned. He took to social media to say that “bird flew away.”

Nisanyan told the Turkish press at the time that, “I thought that three and a half years was already enough. It was time to take a breath. That’s it. And I made the decision to leave the territory of the state control by taking advantage of Turkey’s shortcomings.”

“Escape from Turkey is very easy. As you see, all can escape in case of having good amount of money. If you give the money to the security in the structures, you can escape very calmly,”Nisanyan said at the time.

“I got a lot of support and love from my friends in Armenia when I was in prison. There are many people whom I’d like to thank,” Nisanyan told Armenpress.

The Turkish authorities have issued a warrant for Nisanyan’s arrest and have listed him as a fugitive from the law.