TURKISH SCHOLAR: GUILTY BUT FREE TO GO

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 However outdated and incongruous the Soviet-era law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