Yektan Türkyilmaz is a Turkish scholar of Kurdish origin associated with Duke University . Türkyilmaz , then 33 , is most often cited for his June , 2005 , arrest and imprisonment upon his intended departure from a research trip to Armenia . The first individual of Turkish nationality who had been granted access to the National Archives of Armenia , Türkyilmaz was also one of the small number of intellectuals of Turkish origin who had argued that Armenians as a group had been targeted for atrocities by the then Turkish government during and following 1915 . His arrest , initially without charges , generated surprise and protests from circles in Turkey and also the United States , including from Richard Hovannisian of the University of California at Los Angeles , and former US Senator Bob Dole . Türkyilmaz later said that security officials who had arrested him appeared to have thought him involved in espionage , but eventually he was charged with illegally removing books and other materials , more than fifty years old , that he had openly and legally purchased in Armenia , or which had been presented to him as gifts during his research . In August , 2005 , Türkyilmaz was set free with a suspended sentence
atrocities
Armenian Genocide
Yektan Turkyilmaz