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Durham Herald Sun, NC
Aug 12 2005
Several plead for Turk's release
BY PAUL BONNER : The Herald-Sun
[email protected]
Aug 12, 2005 : 10:08 pm ET
DURHAM -- A growing chorus of academics and former Sen. Robert
Dole are calling for the release of Duke graduate student Yektan
Turkyilmaz from Armenia, where he has been jailed eight weeks for
trying to leave the country with second-hand books he bought there.
Turkyilmaz was arrested June 17 and detained by Armenia's
National Security Service. On July 21, he was indicted under a law
dealing mostly with transporting missiles and other weapons of mass
destruction. But the law also prohibits taking "strategic raw materials
or cultural values" -- in this case, several books more than 50 years
old -- out of the country without permission.
Research led to jail
Turkyilmaz, a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology at Duke
and a native of Turkey, was conducting research for his dissertation
on the region's political history in Armenia's national archive,
reportedly the first Turkish scholar allowed to do so.
Relations between Turkey and Armenia remain testy 90 years after
what Armenians call genocide against them by Turkey. They still lack
diplomatic relations. Fluent in the Armenian language, Turkyilmaz is
considered sympathetic to the Armenian viewpoint.
Sources including his adviser at Duke, professor Orin Starn, say
Turkyilmaz bought the books legally from second-hand bookshops and
street vendors. He had them in his luggage when he was pulled off
a departing plane by customs officials at the airport in Armenia's
capital, Yerevan. The books were not especially valuable or rare,
although one was published in the 17th century, said Starn.
Family pleads case
Colleagues and Turkyilmaz's family in Turkey -- his mother was allowed
to visit him Monday -- have said he didn't know about the old-books
law, which carries a potential prison sentence of four to eight years.
Duke President Richard Brodhead underscored that point in a letter last
week to Armenian President Robert Kocharian. Another letter, signed
by 225 international scholars styling themselves as the Committee
for Solidarity with Yektan Turkyilmaz, also said the situation risks
damaging an already tenuous dialogue between the two nations and
raising "doubts as to whether Armenia encourages independent scholarly
research on its history." They noted in connection with the latter
concern that authorities reportedly also confiscated Turkyilmaz's
research materials, including digital copies he had left with friends.
Espionage rumored
Citing an unidentified source, a Radio Free Europe report Monday
said the National Security Service had considered charging Turkyilmaz
with espionage.
Other academic groups also have taken notice of the case with
letter-writing campaigns, including the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
Dole, former Senate majority leader from Kansas and husband of N.C.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, wrote Kocharian that "while Armenia has many
friends in the U.S., there is no way to defend the undefendable,"
and that the episode calls into question the former Soviet republic's
commitment to democracy.
Aug 12 2005
Several plead for Turk's release
BY PAUL BONNER : The Herald-Sun
[email protected]
Aug 12, 2005 : 10:08 pm ET
DURHAM -- A growing chorus of academics and former Sen. Robert
Dole are calling for the release of Duke graduate student Yektan
Turkyilmaz from Armenia, where he has been jailed eight weeks for
trying to leave the country with second-hand books he bought there.
Turkyilmaz was arrested June 17 and detained by Armenia's
National Security Service. On July 21, he was indicted under a law
dealing mostly with transporting missiles and other weapons of mass
destruction. But the law also prohibits taking "strategic raw materials
or cultural values" -- in this case, several books more than 50 years
old -- out of the country without permission.
Research led to jail
Turkyilmaz, a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology at Duke
and a native of Turkey, was conducting research for his dissertation
on the region's political history in Armenia's national archive,
reportedly the first Turkish scholar allowed to do so.
Relations between Turkey and Armenia remain testy 90 years after
what Armenians call genocide against them by Turkey. They still lack
diplomatic relations. Fluent in the Armenian language, Turkyilmaz is
considered sympathetic to the Armenian viewpoint.
Sources including his adviser at Duke, professor Orin Starn, say
Turkyilmaz bought the books legally from second-hand bookshops and
street vendors. He had them in his luggage when he was pulled off
a departing plane by customs officials at the airport in Armenia's
capital, Yerevan. The books were not especially valuable or rare,
although one was published in the 17th century, said Starn.
Family pleads case
Colleagues and Turkyilmaz's family in Turkey -- his mother was allowed
to visit him Monday -- have said he didn't know about the old-books
law, which carries a potential prison sentence of four to eight years.
Duke President Richard Brodhead underscored that point in a letter last
week to Armenian President Robert Kocharian. Another letter, signed
by 225 international scholars styling themselves as the Committee
for Solidarity with Yektan Turkyilmaz, also said the situation risks
damaging an already tenuous dialogue between the two nations and
raising "doubts as to whether Armenia encourages independent scholarly
research on its history." They noted in connection with the latter
concern that authorities reportedly also confiscated Turkyilmaz's
research materials, including digital copies he had left with friends.
Espionage rumored
Citing an unidentified source, a Radio Free Europe report Monday
said the National Security Service had considered charging Turkyilmaz
with espionage.
Other academic groups also have taken notice of the case with
letter-writing campaigns, including the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
Dole, former Senate majority leader from Kansas and husband of N.C.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, wrote Kocharian that "while Armenia has many
friends in the U.S., there is no way to defend the undefendable,"
and that the episode calls into question the former Soviet republic's
commitment to democracy.