NBC17, North Carolina
July 12 2005

Duke Student Detained For Three Weeks In Armenia

POSTED: 2:15 pm EDT July 12, 2005

DURHAM, N.C. — A Duke University doctoral student and historian from Turkey
with a reputation for writing impartially about Armenia has been detained
for more than three weeks in the country.

Yektan Turkyilmaz has the distinction of being the only Turk known to
conduct research in Armenia’s national archives, a privilege he earned
despite the uneasy relations between the two countries.

Turkyilmaz has not been charged with anything, but he reportedly broke an
Armenian law forbidding anyone from taking a book that is more than 50 years
old out of the country without permission.

During his time in Armenia, Turkyilmaz bought some second-hand books from
street vendors, said his adviser, Duke professor Orin Starn.

Turkyilmaz was departing June 17 from Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia,
when he was pulled from the plane and held by Armenia’s National Security
Service.

Turkyilmaz’s Duke associates, friends and family have asked for his release
and are surprised he remains in custody. He is not allowed to contact his
family, nor anyone at Duke. His lawyer says Turkyilmaz has not been
mistreated.

Most of the books Turkyilmaz bought were from the 20th century, excepting
one from the 17th century. If the 33-year-old student had declared the
books, he would have been allowed to keep them and leave the country, Starn
said.

“None of these books, according to the lawyer, are rare books, ancient
manuscripts, national treasures or anything like that,” Starn said. “I’m
certain that Yektan didn’t know of the existence of that law. Who would?”

Turk-Armenian relations are still rocky over what Armenians define as the
Turkish attempts at genocide against them in the early 20th century. In
Turkey, the number of Armenian civilian deaths is highly disputed.

Turkyilmaz appeared to overcome the barrier by speaking the Armenian
language and for receiving credit from the head of the country’s national
archives as an impartial writer.

A student in Duke’s department of cultural anthropology and a John Hope
Franklin fellow, Turkyilmaz is due back in Durham this month.