(WiPC/IFEX) – Members of the world association of writers, International PEN, have been alerted to the plight of Yektan Turkyilmaz, a Turkish PhD student of cultural anthropology who has been in prison in Armenia since mid June 2005. Turkyilmaz was arrested for not declaring that he was in possession of antique books as he was […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – Members of the world association of writers, International PEN, have been alerted to the plight of Yektan Turkyilmaz, a Turkish PhD student of cultural anthropology who has been in prison in Armenia since mid June 2005. Turkyilmaz was arrested for not declaring that he was in possession of antique books as he was leaving the country. PEN has learned that his trial is set to take place on 9 August.
International PEN is concerned that Turkyilmaz has been imprisoned pending trial for over six weeks and that he is threatened with a sentence of up to eight years in prison. It is concerned that he is being treated particularly harshly because of the nature of his studies. PEN is urging that he be freed pending trial, that his claims that he was unaware of the export regulations on the books be taken into consideration and that assurances be given that the action against him has not been taken as a means of preventing him from continuing his research.
Turkyilmaz, aged 33, was arrested at Yerevan Airport on 17 June as he attempted to leave Armenia. He was on his fourth research trip to the country and had planned to travel on to Paris and Istanbul before returning to Duke University in the USA, where he has a John Hope Franklin Institute fellowship.
During his visit, Turkyilmaz had purchased around 100 books ranging from the 17th to 20th centuries, which he mostly bought from Armenian second-hand book shops. The student has been collecting such books for his own research as well as to build up a library of Armenian books that would otherwise be lost. He maintains he was unaware of requirements to declare any books over 50 years old at customs. A large number of CDs containing research material was also seized and has not been returned.
On 21 July, prosecuting authorities announced that Turkyilmaz was to be tried under Article 215 of the Armenian Criminal Code relating to the export of “contraband” goods, including drugs, arms, materials for the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction and “cultural values for the transportation of which special rules are established”. He faces up to 8 years in prison.
There is deep concern that Turkyilmaz has limited access to his lawyer and friends, and that he is denied access to the telephone, or to write and receive letters.
For full details go to: http://www.ssrc.org/Threats-to-Intellectual-Freedom/Turkyilmaz.page
To see a letter of protest to Armenian President Robert Kocharian signed by over 240 writers and academics world wide, click: http://www.ssrc.org/programs/publications_editors/publications/Turkyilmaz.pdf
