Duke leader pleads for scholar

Published: Aug 5, 2005
Modified: Aug 5, 2005 3:00 AM
newsobserver.com
By SARAH OVASKA, Staff Writer

Duke University President Richard Brodhead wrote a letter to the president of Armenia this week, joining other scholars in calling for the release of a Duke researcher jailed for attempting to take books out of the country.

Yektan Turkyilmaz, 33, a doctoral student in Duke's cultural anthropology department, was jailed June 17 by Armenian authorities while trying to fly to Turkey, his native country. He had about a hundred secondhand books with him and has been held in custody since.

In his letter, Brodhead appealed to Armenian President Robert Kocharian to release Turkyilmaz.

"As the leader of a great country, you have the ability to intervene in this matter and to determine the appropriateness of the actions of your government and the Armenian prosecutors and police," Brodhead wrote in his Aug. 1 letter. "You also have the ability to release Mr. Turkyilmaz."
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