Emil Danielyan at RFE/RL has indeed written two articles on the controversial trial of a Turkish scholar arrested in Yerevan. According to Danielyan, Turkyilmaz has pleaded not guilty and said he had no intention to violate the laws of the Republic of Armenia. Instead, his attempts to take books valued at $4,600 out of the country was simply “a mistake.” The books were openly bought in Yerevan or given to the 33-year-old academic.

According to the report, the National Security Service (NSS), the successor to the KGB, were instrumental in Turkyilmaz’s arrest. Interestingly, Turkyilmaz had already cleared customs and passport control at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport and was either detained as he was about to board his flight or pulled off the plane moments before it was due to depart (news reports vary).

This leads some commentators to wonder if the KGB hadn’t targetted Turkyilmaz on purpose. Usually, those taking cultural artifacts out of the country are merely fined and the items in question confiscated.

The very fact of NSS agents checking a foreign passenger is extraordinary in itself. Sources familiar with the case told RFE/RL earlier that the security agency initially suspected Turkyilmaz of espionage but lacked the evidence to prosecute him on relevant charges. Piloyan refused to comment on the claims. The prosecutor also said NSS officers involved in the arrest will not testify at the trial.

The court cross-examined instead several traders from a popular souvenir market in Yerevan from whom Turkyilmaz bought the books. They all said they are not quite familiar the existing procedures for the export of artifacts and could not give the buyer appropriate advice. Babken Sakanian, who sold Turkyilmaz the seven most valuable books for a total of $3,200, said he heard about the passage earlier this year of Armenia’s Law on the Export and Import of Cultural Values but still has “no idea” about its provisions.

The law stipulates that any book printed more than 50 years ago has a high “historical and cultural value” and can not be taken out of Armenia without a written authorization of the Ministry of Culture. The prosecution maintains that Turkyilmaz was aware of the requirement.

It is interesting to note the presence of Raffi Hovannisian, the US-born first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia now in opposition to the Armenian President, Robert Kocharian. In Danielyan’s second article penned in collaboration with Anna Saghabalyan, Hovannisian argues that the Turkyilmaz case has struck a “powerful blow” against Armenian attempts to have the 1915 Genocide recognized.

“It is hard to imagine a more powerful blow to international affirmation of the Armenian genocide than this trial,” Hovannisian told RFE/RL as he attended the second court hearing on the case in an apparent show of solidarity with the jailed scholar.

“In my view, real patriotism means the laws of the Republic of Armenia that deal with smuggling, corruption, espionage and high treason should be enforced equally against all citizens, including the current president, members of his family as well as all the ministers and their relatives,” he said.

Turkyilmaz, who researched Ottoman history at the National Archive in Yerevan, was charged with deliberately attempting to smuggle rare Armenian books to Turkey last June. However, even individuals convicted of more serious smuggling have rarely ended up in jail in Armenia. Hence, growing questions about reasons for the unusually harsh punishment sought by the Armenian law-enforcement authorities.

Hovannisian, who served as Armenia’s first foreign minister in 1991-92 and now leads an opposition party called Zharangutyun (Heritage), believes that the scholar was simply not aware of Armenian customs regulations. “I think Yektan violated the Armenian laws apparently without realizing that,” he said. “Let him and his colleagues know and respect those laws from now on. They must also be free to access our state archive. The matter should not have reached the court in the first place.”

Turkyilmaz is the first Turkish historian to gain access to Armenian archives to research the Genocide and reportedly recognizes the massacres that resulted in the deaths of approximately 1.5 million Armenians living in what is now modern-day Turkey as such. Turkyilmaz is supported by many other academics and individuals with pro-Armenian views.

“The vast majority of Turks who signed the open letter to President Kocharian have pro-Armenian views,” said Rober Hadeller, editor of Istanbul’s Armenian-language “Marmara” daily. “They want the guy to be set free as soon as possible.”

Speaking to RFE/RL by phone, Hadeller said he and other prominent Istanbul Armenians agree with their demands. “The crime which he is accused of having committed doesn’t seem that serious to us,” he said. “After all, he claims to have bought those books in a market. One is left to wonder if there are some other motives behind this case that are unknown to us.”

The two articles can be read online here. Meanwhile, despite the potential benefit for Armenia of having a Turkish scholar work in the Armenian archives, Turkey is finally realizing how the case can be used against those demanding that the 1915 Genocide be recognized. The Turkish Weekly, for example, now asks if the Armenian Government is “scared of shedding light on its history.”

All in all, a disaster for those working for Genocide recognition and a huge embarrassment for Armenia. Senator Bob Dole, a long-standing friend of Armenia, has questioned the democratic credentials of the Armenian Government as a result of this case. The campaign in support of Yektan Turkyilmaz has a website here.