Turkish researcher sentenced in Armenia for smuggling

Agence France Presse — English
August 16, 2005 Tuesday 5:32 PM GMT

YEREVAN Aug 16 — An Armenian court on Tuesday handed down a two-year
suspended sentence to a Turkish researcher studying at a US university
for trying to smuggle ancient books out of Armenia.

Yektan Turkyilmaz, from Istanbul, studied ancient local texts at
Yerevan libraries for two weeks but was arrested in mid-June at the
capital’s airport when several 17th-century books, some carrying
library stamps, were discovered in his luggage.

The books’ value was estimated at several million dollars (euros).

The 33-year-old had been facing a maximum five-year prison sentence
or a fine of up to 2,300 dollars.

He left the courthouse a free man after a two-month detention, saying
“I have been and I still am a friend of Armenia”.

He said he would return to the United States to pursue his studies
in anthropology.