TURKISH INTELLECTUALS ADDRESS OPEN LETTER TO R. KOCHARIAN

ArmenPress
Aug 1 2005

ISTANBUL, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS: A group of Turkish intellectuals
addressed an open letter to the Armenian President Robert Kocharian in
which the authors express concern about the fate of Turkish scientist
Ektan Turkilmaz who was arrested in Yerevan while trying to smuggle
out of Armenia tens of books “of historical and cultural value” dating
back to 17 and 20 centuries. In the letter, published in the Turkish
Daily News, the authors say they are sure that Turkilmaz violated
the law unknowingly.

“No one warned him against it,” wrote Turkish intellectuals, calling
on the Armenian authorities not to sharpen the tensed and fragile
relations between Armenia and Turkey. According to the Armenian
national security service, Ektan Turkilmaz, 33, a Turkish citizen
from Istanbul and a student of a US-based Duke University, in North
Carolina, was arrested aboard a plane bound from Yerevan to Istanbul.