US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1479

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001479 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, AM, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKISH SCHOLAR: GUILTY BUT FREE TO GO 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. GODFREY for 1.4 (b, d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) On August 16, a local-level Yerevan court convicted 
Yektan Turkyilmaz, a Turkish citizen and Duke University 
doctoral candidate arrested June 17 at Yerevan's Zvartnots 
Airport, for attempting to smuggle eighty-eight "historically 
and culturally important" books and manuscripts out of 
Armenia.  Judge Karen Farkhoyan found Turkyilmaz guilty but 
suspended a two-year prison sentence and released Turkyilmaz. 
 Turkyilmaz must remain in Armenia for 15 days while the 
court processes the judge's orders, about the same time his 
advisors hope it will take to renew his expired Turkish 
passport at the Turkish Consulate in Tblisi.  This is a good 
outcome.  However outdated and incongruous the Soviet-era law 
prohibiting the export of cultural patrimony may be, 
Turkyilmaz was clearly in violation.  End Summary. 
 
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THE CASE AGAINST THE TURKISH SCHOLAR 
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2. (U) On June 17, authorities from the National Security 
Services (NSS) arrested Turkish citizen and Duke University 
doctoral candidate Yektan Turkyilmaz as he boarded a flight 
from Yerevan's Zvartnots Airport to Istanbul.  On July 21, 
the Malatya-Sebastia Court of First Instance in Yerevan 
officially charged Turkyilmaz under Article 34, paragraph 
215.2 of the Armenian criminal code, the law that bars 
transportation of cultural artifacts and other controlled 
items without GOAM permission.  Under Armenian law, books and 
manuscripts more than 50 years old -- which Turkyilmaz 
attempted to smuggle -- qualify as cultural artifacts.  The 
charges carried a maximum penalty of eight years imprisonment. 
 
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GUILTY SENTENCE CLEARS TURKYILMAZ TO LEAVE ARMENIA 
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3. (U) Judge Karen Farkhoyan found Turkyilmaz guilty of 
"intent to smuggle" the controlled books and manuscripts. 
The NSS confiscated 110 books from Turkyilmaz's checked 
baggage.  The Court determined eighty-eight of the books 
qualified as "controlled historical items."  The oldest book, 
an Armenian bible, was published in Venice in 1675.  Judge 
Farkhoyan also found Turkyilmaz guilty of successfully 
smuggling books including an 1885 version of Levon Alishan's 
"Sisavan ad Kilikia," which Prosecutor Koruyn Piloyan 
maintained Turkyilmaz stashed in his sister's baggage. 
Turkyilmaz's sister Zeynep Turkyilmaz, a student at UCLA, 
departed Yerevan prior to Yektan's arrest.  Judge Farkhoyan 
imposed a two-year suspended sentence. 
 
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WHAT WAS HE DOING? 
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4. (SBU) Turkyilmaz gained access to Armenia's National 
Archives to research Ottoman and Armenian history for his 
Duke University dissertation.  In an August 1 letter to 
Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Duke University 
President Richard Broadhead characterized Turkyilmaz as "one 
of a handful of Turkish scholars who have critically 
addressed the events of 1915."  Turkyilmaz maintained his 
innocence throughout the trial but noted in his closing 
statement that he "never meant any harm to the Armenian 
people or the Armenian state," he "just didn't know what the 
regulations were."  In meetings with us, Turkyilmaz's 
academic colleagues admitted that he was an avid bibliophile 
and that his passion for old books could almost appear as an 
obsession.  Judge Farkoyan ordered the court to confiscate 
the historical books, but return Turklyilmaz's digital video 
and camera equipment, cell phone and CDs containing his 
research. 
 
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U.S. ENGAGEMENT: QUIET BUT INSISTENT SUPPORT 
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5. (C) We pressed the Government to recognize that a stiff 
sentence would not be in Armenia's interest.  The Ambassador 
raised the issue directly with Prosecutor General Aghvan 
Hovsepian.  Hovsepian was slow to agree, but finally 
committed to a swift and "politically acceptable" resolution 
to the Turkyilmaz case.  The Armenian judicial system 
delivered exactly what the Prosecutor General promised. 
Turkyilmaz's suspended sentence frees him to depart Armenia 
following a standard 15-day, court-imposed administrative 
processing period, about the same time Turkyilmaz's legal 
counsel estimates it will take to courier his expired 
passport to and from the Turkish Consulate in Tblisi. 
According to defense attorneys Varduhie Elbakyan and Hrair 
Ghukasyan, Turkyilmaz's sister is in contact with the Turkish 
MFA, reportedly attempting to speed up the passport renewal 
process.  Turkyilmaz, a Kurd who speaks Armenian and has 
acknowledged the events of 1915 as "genocide," predicted 
during his trial that he will have legal difficulties with 
authorities when he returns to Turkey. 
EVANS