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TURKISH MAN ARRESTED AFTER GROUP DISRUPTS BOOK READING
New York Times, NY
May 2 2007
A Turkish native was arrested after he and others disrupted a book
reading about the Armenian genocide at a Barnes & Noble store on the
Upper East Side last night, the police said.
Among those attending the reading by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert,
whose Armenian parents immigrated to the United States, were Robert
M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, and Hugh L. Carey,
a former governor of New York. Ms. Ahnert had begun reading from her
book, "The Knock at the Door," when a group of four or five men in
the audience stood and started passing out literature denying that
Turks committed the mass destruction of Armenians in and around 1915,
according to Ms. Ahnert and her publisher, David Nelson. The men were
asked to sit, but refused, Mr. Nelson said.
The police said that they received a call around 7:30 p.m. and that
officers attempted to escort the men out of the bookstore, on East
86th Street.
One man, Erdem Sahin, 41, refused to leave and was arrested, the police
said. Mr. Sahin, who was born in Turkey, was charged with resisting
arrest, inciting a riot, unlawful assembly, and disorderly conduct
for disturbing a lawful assembly, according to the police.
The reading was suspended for about 20 minutes while the disturbance
was sorted out.
"It was the first time I had that ugliness," Ms. Ahnert said. "It's
not pleasant, but this is America. Everyone has free speech."
New York Times, NY
May 2 2007
A Turkish native was arrested after he and others disrupted a book
reading about the Armenian genocide at a Barnes & Noble store on the
Upper East Side last night, the police said.
Among those attending the reading by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert,
whose Armenian parents immigrated to the United States, were Robert
M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, and Hugh L. Carey,
a former governor of New York. Ms. Ahnert had begun reading from her
book, "The Knock at the Door," when a group of four or five men in
the audience stood and started passing out literature denying that
Turks committed the mass destruction of Armenians in and around 1915,
according to Ms. Ahnert and her publisher, David Nelson. The men were
asked to sit, but refused, Mr. Nelson said.
The police said that they received a call around 7:30 p.m. and that
officers attempted to escort the men out of the bookstore, on East
86th Street.
One man, Erdem Sahin, 41, refused to leave and was arrested, the police
said. Mr. Sahin, who was born in Turkey, was charged with resisting
arrest, inciting a riot, unlawful assembly, and disorderly conduct
for disturbing a lawful assembly, according to the police.
The reading was suspended for about 20 minutes while the disturbance
was sorted out.
"It was the first time I had that ugliness," Ms. Ahnert said. "It's
not pleasant, but this is America. Everyone has free speech."