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Court Ends Armenian Genocide Museum Challenge in Washington
NATIONAL NEWS | JULY 24, 2014 12:52 PM
By Michael Doyle
WASHINGTON (Fresno Bee) -- A federal appeals court may have ended, once
and for all, an extraordinarily protracted legal fight over a proposed
Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial.
In a 37-page decision, on July 15, the US Court of Appeals for the DC
Circuit unanimously upheld a 2011 trial judge's order awarding the
property intended for the museum to the Cafesjian Family Foundation.
The three-judge panel's decision rejected competing claims by the
Armenian Assembly of America, which had sought a new trial. Most
poignantly, though, the appeals court voiced dismay over what it
called the "morass of litigation" that has entangled museum plans.
"More than seven years and millions of dollars in legal fees later,
much of the parties' work to achieve their dream of a museum appears
to have been for naught, which is regrettable," Judge Robert L.
Wilkins wrote. "Whatever happens next, hopefully our decision today
can at least serve as the last word on this dispute's protracted
journey through the courts."
Hirair Hovnanian, chairman of the Armenian Genocide Museum and
Memorial, said in a statement following release of the ruling Tuesday
that "we hope the Cafesjian heirs keep the promise Gerry [Cafesjian]
made to the courts, which was to use this property to build a museum."
At one time, the late Cafesjian Family Foundation founder Gerald
Cafesjian was a benefactor of the Armenian Assembly. Together, they
planned the museum and memorial marking the period from 1915 to 1923,
when by some estimates upward of 1.5 million Armenians died at the
hands of the Ottoman Empire.
In downtown Washington, project supporters bought a four-story
National Bank of Washington building in 2000. Cafesjian provided
funding and bought adjacent properties, with a clause that the
properties would revert to his control if the project was not finished
by December 31, 2010.
Cafesjian and the Armenian Assembly subsequently had a falling out,
leading to the seemingly endless court battles over control of the
property.
"With the benefit of hindsight, [the Armenian Assembly] may now think
this deal improvident, but no sense of buyer's remorse can empower us
to rewrite the plain terms of the contract to which they agreed,"
Wilkins wrote.
- See more at: http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2014/07/24/court-ends-armenian-genocide-museum-challenge-in-washington/#sthash.I1lXeHBb.dpuf
NATIONAL NEWS | JULY 24, 2014 12:52 PM
By Michael Doyle
WASHINGTON (Fresno Bee) -- A federal appeals court may have ended, once
and for all, an extraordinarily protracted legal fight over a proposed
Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial.
In a 37-page decision, on July 15, the US Court of Appeals for the DC
Circuit unanimously upheld a 2011 trial judge's order awarding the
property intended for the museum to the Cafesjian Family Foundation.
The three-judge panel's decision rejected competing claims by the
Armenian Assembly of America, which had sought a new trial. Most
poignantly, though, the appeals court voiced dismay over what it
called the "morass of litigation" that has entangled museum plans.
"More than seven years and millions of dollars in legal fees later,
much of the parties' work to achieve their dream of a museum appears
to have been for naught, which is regrettable," Judge Robert L.
Wilkins wrote. "Whatever happens next, hopefully our decision today
can at least serve as the last word on this dispute's protracted
journey through the courts."
Hirair Hovnanian, chairman of the Armenian Genocide Museum and
Memorial, said in a statement following release of the ruling Tuesday
that "we hope the Cafesjian heirs keep the promise Gerry [Cafesjian]
made to the courts, which was to use this property to build a museum."
At one time, the late Cafesjian Family Foundation founder Gerald
Cafesjian was a benefactor of the Armenian Assembly. Together, they
planned the museum and memorial marking the period from 1915 to 1923,
when by some estimates upward of 1.5 million Armenians died at the
hands of the Ottoman Empire.
In downtown Washington, project supporters bought a four-story
National Bank of Washington building in 2000. Cafesjian provided
funding and bought adjacent properties, with a clause that the
properties would revert to his control if the project was not finished
by December 31, 2010.
Cafesjian and the Armenian Assembly subsequently had a falling out,
leading to the seemingly endless court battles over control of the
property.
"With the benefit of hindsight, [the Armenian Assembly] may now think
this deal improvident, but no sense of buyer's remorse can empower us
to rewrite the plain terms of the contract to which they agreed,"
Wilkins wrote.
- See more at: http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2014/07/24/court-ends-armenian-genocide-museum-challenge-in-washington/#sthash.I1lXeHBb.dpuf