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Hurriyet Daily News , turkey
July 30 2010
Experts skeptical about new Armenian-American lawsuit against Turkey
Friday, July 30, 2010
SEVÄ°L KÃ`Ã?Ã`KKOÅ?UM
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian-Americans file a federal lawsuit against two Turkish
state-owned banks, T.C. Ziraat Bankası and the Central Bank of Turkey,
but some international law experts say a local court cannot sue a
state in this way. Others say there is a possibility for the court to
accept the case
The federal lawsuit filed by Armenian-American lawyers against the
Turkish government and two Turkish state-owned banks has been
questioned by international law experts who say a state cannot be sued
in a local court.
`This lawsuit is just for keeping the Armenian allegations on the
agenda for years; they will not win the case. It's in preparation for
an anniversary in 2015, since they are seeking a class-action status
for the suit that would not end for at least five years,'
international-law expert İbrahim Kaya told the Hürriyet Daily News &
Economic Review on Friday.
The suit filed Thursday seeks compensation for the heirs of Armenians
whose property was allegedly seized as they were driven from the
Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago. The two banks named in the
lawsuit are the Central Bank of Turkey and T.C. Ziraat Bankası, the
largest and oldest Turkish bank, with origins dating back to the
1860s.
Kaya is among the legal experts who have argued that a local court
cannot sue a state under international law, saying the court should
not accept the case on these grounds. Others, however, have said the
court could accept the lawsuit if it deems the banks to be less than
full state institutions.
`Since Ziraat Bankası and the Central Bank are state-owned banks,
hypothetically they could only be sued in Turkish courts,' Kaya said.
`But the Treaty of Lausanne and the Kars Agreements set a period to
apply for these sorts of demands and it has already expired.'
The Treaty of Lausanne was the 1923 agreement that paved the way for
the creation of the modern Turkish Republic; the Treaty of Kars was
signed in 1921 between the Turkish Parliament and representatives of
Soviet Armenia, Soviet Azerbaijan and Soviet Georgia.
Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the Treaty of Lausanne granted the right for
people who had lived outside Turkish borders to return and obtain
Turkish citizenship, Kaya said, adding that `another article [allowed]
for the amnesty of those who had battled against Turkish forces in
French uniforms.'
The treaty, he said, set a two-year period for property holdings to be
returned to these people, which means that Armenians can no longer
file a lawsuit in Turkey.
The new lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Garbis Davouyan of
Los Angeles and Hrayr Turabian of Queens, New York, alleging a breach
of statutory trust, unjust enrichment, human-rights violations and
violations of international law. The case seeks compensation for land,
buildings and businesses allegedly seized from Armenians, along with
bank deposits and property, including priceless religious and other
artifacts, some of which are now housed in museums in Turkey.
The lawsuit claims the government of Turkey agreed to administer the
property, collecting rents and sale proceeds from the seized assets
and depositing the receipts in trust accounts until the property could
be restored to owners.
Instead, the government has `withheld the property and any income
derived from such property,' the lawsuit said.
Professor Hüseyin Pazarcı said the American court might accept the
suit, even though he believed it should not accept such a case against
a state. The court will evaluate Turkish law to determine if the banks
are full state organs, and could decide that the banks do not
substitute for the state itself even if they are public institutions,
Pazarcı said.
The lawsuit also claims more than a million Armenians were killed in
forced marches, concentration camps and massacres `perpetrated,
assisted and condoned' by Turkish officials and armed forces.
Turkey fiercely rejects listing these deaths as `genocide,' saying
thousands died on both sides in what amounted to civil strife. The
U.S. government does not recognize the World War I-era killings as
genocide.
In 2000, the California Legislature recognized the deaths in 1915 as
genocide and allowed heirs to seek payment on life-insurance policies
of dead relatives. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later
invalidated the law. Geragos has appealed that ruling.
BOX: Prominent diaspora Armenians split on lawsuit against Turkey
Although a majority of Armenians have supported a new U.S.-based
lawsuit to claim compensation for land lost in 1915 in the late
Ottoman Empire, some prominent academics and journalists from the
community have criticized the measure.
`We cannot allow these individual steps to cause us to fall out with
each other,' Ara Sarafian, a historian and director of the Gomidas
Institute in London, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
`The Turkish people need to understand that these people do not
represent the diaspora or the entire Armenian world. Just like Turkish
nationalists, they're trying to make Armenian nationalism.'
Echoing Sarafian's statements, famous Professor Oshin Keshishian said:
`Of course it's important for Turkey to accept the genocide. However,
it is very wrong to reduce this sensitive and hurtful event to
material things.' Keshishian is the editor-in-chief of the Armenian
Observer, a newspaper based in the United States.
Answering questions from the Daily News, Amaduni Virabian, the
director of the National Archives of Armenia, said that although he
believes the lawsuit has merit, he does not think it can achieve the
desired results. Virabian expressed his pessimism on the matter,
saying that he `knows' Turkey will not pay compensation.
On the other hand, Ruben Safrastian, director of the Armenia National
Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies, said the lawsuit
could be a way for Armenians to regain what was taken from them.
Commenting on whether or not the lawsuit will affect attempts to
improve ties between Turks and Armenians, Safrastian said they were
independent processes.
Meanwhile, Syrian-Armenian journalist Harout Ekmanian said, `I think
the lawsuit must not only seek compensation, but allow the restoring
of the right of return of diaspora Armenians to their ancestors'
homeland, and to guarantee their physical, cultural and political
safety within the Republic of Turkey as a first step.' VERCÄ°HAN
ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU, ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=expert-views-vary-on--american-armenians-suing-turkish-state-owned-banks-2010-07-30
From: A. Papazian
July 30 2010
Experts skeptical about new Armenian-American lawsuit against Turkey
Friday, July 30, 2010
SEVÄ°L KÃ`Ã?Ã`KKOÅ?UM
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian-Americans file a federal lawsuit against two Turkish
state-owned banks, T.C. Ziraat Bankası and the Central Bank of Turkey,
but some international law experts say a local court cannot sue a
state in this way. Others say there is a possibility for the court to
accept the case
The federal lawsuit filed by Armenian-American lawyers against the
Turkish government and two Turkish state-owned banks has been
questioned by international law experts who say a state cannot be sued
in a local court.
`This lawsuit is just for keeping the Armenian allegations on the
agenda for years; they will not win the case. It's in preparation for
an anniversary in 2015, since they are seeking a class-action status
for the suit that would not end for at least five years,'
international-law expert İbrahim Kaya told the Hürriyet Daily News &
Economic Review on Friday.
The suit filed Thursday seeks compensation for the heirs of Armenians
whose property was allegedly seized as they were driven from the
Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago. The two banks named in the
lawsuit are the Central Bank of Turkey and T.C. Ziraat Bankası, the
largest and oldest Turkish bank, with origins dating back to the
1860s.
Kaya is among the legal experts who have argued that a local court
cannot sue a state under international law, saying the court should
not accept the case on these grounds. Others, however, have said the
court could accept the lawsuit if it deems the banks to be less than
full state institutions.
`Since Ziraat Bankası and the Central Bank are state-owned banks,
hypothetically they could only be sued in Turkish courts,' Kaya said.
`But the Treaty of Lausanne and the Kars Agreements set a period to
apply for these sorts of demands and it has already expired.'
The Treaty of Lausanne was the 1923 agreement that paved the way for
the creation of the modern Turkish Republic; the Treaty of Kars was
signed in 1921 between the Turkish Parliament and representatives of
Soviet Armenia, Soviet Azerbaijan and Soviet Georgia.
Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the Treaty of Lausanne granted the right for
people who had lived outside Turkish borders to return and obtain
Turkish citizenship, Kaya said, adding that `another article [allowed]
for the amnesty of those who had battled against Turkish forces in
French uniforms.'
The treaty, he said, set a two-year period for property holdings to be
returned to these people, which means that Armenians can no longer
file a lawsuit in Turkey.
The new lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Garbis Davouyan of
Los Angeles and Hrayr Turabian of Queens, New York, alleging a breach
of statutory trust, unjust enrichment, human-rights violations and
violations of international law. The case seeks compensation for land,
buildings and businesses allegedly seized from Armenians, along with
bank deposits and property, including priceless religious and other
artifacts, some of which are now housed in museums in Turkey.
The lawsuit claims the government of Turkey agreed to administer the
property, collecting rents and sale proceeds from the seized assets
and depositing the receipts in trust accounts until the property could
be restored to owners.
Instead, the government has `withheld the property and any income
derived from such property,' the lawsuit said.
Professor Hüseyin Pazarcı said the American court might accept the
suit, even though he believed it should not accept such a case against
a state. The court will evaluate Turkish law to determine if the banks
are full state organs, and could decide that the banks do not
substitute for the state itself even if they are public institutions,
Pazarcı said.
The lawsuit also claims more than a million Armenians were killed in
forced marches, concentration camps and massacres `perpetrated,
assisted and condoned' by Turkish officials and armed forces.
Turkey fiercely rejects listing these deaths as `genocide,' saying
thousands died on both sides in what amounted to civil strife. The
U.S. government does not recognize the World War I-era killings as
genocide.
In 2000, the California Legislature recognized the deaths in 1915 as
genocide and allowed heirs to seek payment on life-insurance policies
of dead relatives. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later
invalidated the law. Geragos has appealed that ruling.
BOX: Prominent diaspora Armenians split on lawsuit against Turkey
Although a majority of Armenians have supported a new U.S.-based
lawsuit to claim compensation for land lost in 1915 in the late
Ottoman Empire, some prominent academics and journalists from the
community have criticized the measure.
`We cannot allow these individual steps to cause us to fall out with
each other,' Ara Sarafian, a historian and director of the Gomidas
Institute in London, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
`The Turkish people need to understand that these people do not
represent the diaspora or the entire Armenian world. Just like Turkish
nationalists, they're trying to make Armenian nationalism.'
Echoing Sarafian's statements, famous Professor Oshin Keshishian said:
`Of course it's important for Turkey to accept the genocide. However,
it is very wrong to reduce this sensitive and hurtful event to
material things.' Keshishian is the editor-in-chief of the Armenian
Observer, a newspaper based in the United States.
Answering questions from the Daily News, Amaduni Virabian, the
director of the National Archives of Armenia, said that although he
believes the lawsuit has merit, he does not think it can achieve the
desired results. Virabian expressed his pessimism on the matter,
saying that he `knows' Turkey will not pay compensation.
On the other hand, Ruben Safrastian, director of the Armenia National
Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies, said the lawsuit
could be a way for Armenians to regain what was taken from them.
Commenting on whether or not the lawsuit will affect attempts to
improve ties between Turks and Armenians, Safrastian said they were
independent processes.
Meanwhile, Syrian-Armenian journalist Harout Ekmanian said, `I think
the lawsuit must not only seek compensation, but allow the restoring
of the right of return of diaspora Armenians to their ancestors'
homeland, and to guarantee their physical, cultural and political
safety within the Republic of Turkey as a first step.' VERCÄ°HAN
ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU, ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=expert-views-vary-on--american-armenians-suing-turkish-state-owned-banks-2010-07-30
From: A. Papazian