Turkey Builds Case Against Academic

Reuters,
February 16, 2002

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — A Turkish security court yesterday began examining evidence against U.S. academic Noam Chomsky for allegedly fomenting separatism during a visit to this mainly Kurdish city, security officials said.

Police turned over to the court cassettes and a translated version of Chomsky's remarks Thursday. Reportedly they show he said he hoped an independent Kurdish state would eventually be established. If the court finds evidence of a crime, it could charge Chomsky.

Chomsky, a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology better known for his attacks on U.S. foreign policy, was in Turkey this week to observe the trial of his 22-year-old publisher Fatih Tas, who had translated Chomsky's work into Turkish.

On Wednesday, an Istanbul court cleared Tas of charges he had threatened the unity of the state by publishing Chomsky's accusations that Turkey had oppressed its Kurdish minority during violence between soldiers and Kurdish separatists that has killed more than 30,000 people since 1984.