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  • ANKARA: 'Buying Used Book in Armenia is So Dangerous'

    'Buying Used Book in Armenia is So Dangerous'

    Journal of Turkish Weekly
    Aug 16 2005

    YEREVAN - Turkyilmaz, a doctoral candidate, was arrested June 17 as
    he tried to leave the country with two suitcases of used books. He
    has been held in a former KGB maximum-security prison in the Armenian
    capital, Yerevan, and faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.
    The trial started Tuesday and is expected to last up to a month.
    Turkish Armenia experts claim that the reason is not buying used
    books but beeing Turkish.

    Turkyilmaz's research into how Turks, Armenians and Kurds interacted
    for centuries in the Anatolia melting pot touched on the sensitive
    issue of the mass killings of Armenians in the waning days of the
    Ottoman Empire.

    In nearly two weeks of interrogation, the academic said through
    friends, he was never questioned about his books but instead about
    his research and a compact disc of archival information that was to
    be the basis for his writing. The disc has been confiscated.

    "This should not be a political issue; this should be for the
    historians to look into and decide," said an official at the Turkish
    Foreign Ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity. "From what we
    had heard, this young scholar seemed to support the Armenian side of
    the so-called genocide debate. It is such a strange turn of events,
    to arrest him."

    For the last two years, Turkyilmaz has conducted research in Turkish
    and Armenian libraries and the Turkish national archives. This year,
    he was the first Turkish citizen allowed access to the Armenian
    national archives, according to an Armenian government press release.

    A bibliophile, Turkyilmaz scoured bookstores and open-air markets for
    old books. Supporters say no one told him he needed special permission
    to take the books from Armenia.

    Several American and Armenian scholars have said that they also were
    unaware of the restriction. Although the law has been used in stopping
    the export of cultural goods such as religious icons and carpets,
    it is thought to be the first time it has been applied to books.

    Dr. Nilgun Gulcan from Ankara-based ISRO says "to make any historical
    research in any Armenian libraries is impossible". "All Turkish
    archives and libraries have been open to all researchers including
    the Armenians. However no one will go to Armenia after this case. All
    Turkish historians know that if they go to yerevan to make historical
    research they may be capturde and put in prison. Buying used books
    should not be a reason to be put in prison. and we know that the reason
    is not used books, but biases Armenian Government cannot changed till
    now" added Dr. Gulcan.

    Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, a staunch advocate for Armenian issues,
    weighed in with a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian. 200
    Turkish, Kurdish and Turkey Armenians also sent a letter to yerevan
    and urged to release the Turkish scientist.

    "Your detention of Yektan for seven weeks on any grounds would draw
    attention to failings in Armenia's democratic evolution," Dole wrote.
    "To detain him on grounds as dubious as these calls into question
    Armenia's commitment to democracy."

    Armenia and Armenian-Americans have been lobbying governments
    worldwide to label the 1915 deaths genocide. The Turkish Government
    however insists the deaths were the results of a civil insurrection
    and war curcumstances that also claimed the lives of innocent Turks.
    According to the Turkish historians more than 520,000 Turkish villagers
    were masscred by the Armenian armed groups during the riot.

    Compiled by Jany Dawid, JTW
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