‘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