Durham, N.C. - A trial of a Duke graduate student accused of attempting to take prohibited books out of Armenia began this week. Prior to the trial, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead wrote Armenia President Robert Kocharian asking him to intervene on behalf of the cultural anthropology student Yektan Turkyilmaz.

"Mr. Turkyilmaz is a scholar of extraordinary promise," Brodhead wrote. "He is one of a handful of Turkish scholars who have critically addressed the events of 1915 and is the first Turkish scholar to be granted access to your nation's Historical Archive. His exceptional command of many languages is, I am told, unique among scholars of this period and gives him an equally unique opportunity, therefore, to help illuminate this critical historical period.

"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. You also have the ability to release Mr. Turkyilmaz. With respect, I urge you to do so."

Turkyilmaz was arrested June 17 in possession of books dating from the 17th to 20th centuries and was suspected of seeking to take them secretly on a flight to Turkey. Books older than 50 years cannot be taken out of Armenia without special permission. Turkyilmaz was in Armenia to carry out research in the Armenian national archives, the first Turk to be allowed to do so.

Orin Starn, professor of cultural anthropology and Turkyilmaz's dissertation adviser, was planning to go to Armenia to attend the trial. Starn said Turkyilmaz bought the books from a used-book dealer and didn't know it was illegal to remove them from the country.

According to a report from Radio Free Europe, the trial began Tuesday with an one-hour opening session before being recessed until today (Friday). The opening session was attended by human rights activists and members of the U.S. embassy, according to the report.

Turkyilmaz's plight has attracted the attention of more than 200 academics from the United States, Turkey and Armenia, who have appealed to President Kocharian on his behalf. Former U.S. Senator Robert Dole, a long-time supporter of Armenian rights, also has written on the student's behalf.

"To detain him on grounds as dubious as these calls into question Armenia's commitment to democracy in the first place," Dole wrote to Kocharian last week.