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AMERICAN ARMENIAN SUES TURKEY TO RECLAIM HER FAMILY LANDS
Legal Monitor Worldwide
January 22, 2015 Thursday
Armenians are in the process of organizing thousands of events all
over the world to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
These events aim to remind the world about the mass atrocities
committed by Ottoman Turkey from 1915 to 1923 with the expectation
that the international community would compel the Turkish government
to face its sordid past and restore the rights of genocide descendants.
There is, however, a faster and more efficient way - legal action -
to accomplish this honorable objective. In recent years, several
Armenian-American lawyers have filed class action lawsuits with some
success against insurance companies in US Federal Courts. Various
other lawsuits are still pending.
On the eve of the Centennial, both the Armenian government and some
Diaspora groups are considering the possibility of filing lawsuits
against Turkey in international courts. However, such serious legal
action should only be undertaken by international law experts and
not by well-meaning Armenian individuals or community groups. If
mishandled, these lawsuits could have a lasting devastating effect
on legitimate Armenian demands from Turkey.
Last September, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of
Cilicia announced that he was planning to file a lawsuit in Turkey to
reclaim church properties owned by the Catholicosate in Sis, Cilicia,
prior to the Genocide. Should the Turkish court reject this lawsuit,
the Catholicosate of Cilicia would then appeal the ruling to the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Recently, the Turkish press reported that Armenian-American Zuart
Sudjian had filed a lawsuit reclaiming the land that had belonged to
her mother's family - the Basmajians - on which Diyarbakir Airport
is located.
I spoke with the 94-year-old Mrs. Sudjian in New York (not in
California as reported by the Turkish press), who told me that after
being forced to leave Diyarbakir following the Armenian Genocide,
her family first moved to Lebanon, then Cuba (not Korea) and finally
settled in the United States.
Sudjian family's property was expropriated by the Turkish government in
1967, after putting an announcement in a local newspaper and claiming
that the owners could not be found.
Several years ago, Sudjian's attorney Ali Elbeyoglu filed a lawsuit
on her behalf in Turkey seeking the return of her inheritance. The
court turned down her request in April 2013, claiming that the
10-year statute of limitation had expired. The Court of Appeals
reversed the lower court's ruling and demanded a rehearing of
the case, affirming that Sudjian could not have been aware of the
legal announcement placed in a local Diyarbakir newspaper prior to
the property's confiscation. At a minimum, the Court declared that
the ad should have been placed in a Turkish paper with nationwide
circulation. Attorney Elbeyoglu explained that the confiscation of
Sudjian's property violated the protection of private property rights
as defined by the European Convention of Human Rights.
Even if Sudjian were to win her lawsuit, it is unlikely that the
Turkish government would return the very valuable land worth tens
of millions of dollars on which Diyarbakir's military and civilian
airports are located. That was the reason her lawyer told Milliyet
newspaper that Sudjian was seeking compensation only for the value
of her family's property
Lawyer Elbeyoglu also told Milliyet that winning Sudjian's case would
open the door for many more such cases. Significantly, the Turkish
newspaper subtitled its article, "Hope for the Diaspora."
The Turkish media failed to point out that if the Court of Appeals
ruled against Sudjian's claim, she could then take her case to the
European Court of Human Rights. A positive ruling from ECHR would
open the floodgates of lawsuits by Armenians worldwide whose ancestors
had properties that were confiscated by the Turkish government during
the Armenian Genocide.
Legal Monitor Worldwide
January 22, 2015 Thursday
Armenians are in the process of organizing thousands of events all
over the world to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
These events aim to remind the world about the mass atrocities
committed by Ottoman Turkey from 1915 to 1923 with the expectation
that the international community would compel the Turkish government
to face its sordid past and restore the rights of genocide descendants.
There is, however, a faster and more efficient way - legal action -
to accomplish this honorable objective. In recent years, several
Armenian-American lawyers have filed class action lawsuits with some
success against insurance companies in US Federal Courts. Various
other lawsuits are still pending.
On the eve of the Centennial, both the Armenian government and some
Diaspora groups are considering the possibility of filing lawsuits
against Turkey in international courts. However, such serious legal
action should only be undertaken by international law experts and
not by well-meaning Armenian individuals or community groups. If
mishandled, these lawsuits could have a lasting devastating effect
on legitimate Armenian demands from Turkey.
Last September, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of
Cilicia announced that he was planning to file a lawsuit in Turkey to
reclaim church properties owned by the Catholicosate in Sis, Cilicia,
prior to the Genocide. Should the Turkish court reject this lawsuit,
the Catholicosate of Cilicia would then appeal the ruling to the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Recently, the Turkish press reported that Armenian-American Zuart
Sudjian had filed a lawsuit reclaiming the land that had belonged to
her mother's family - the Basmajians - on which Diyarbakir Airport
is located.
I spoke with the 94-year-old Mrs. Sudjian in New York (not in
California as reported by the Turkish press), who told me that after
being forced to leave Diyarbakir following the Armenian Genocide,
her family first moved to Lebanon, then Cuba (not Korea) and finally
settled in the United States.
Sudjian family's property was expropriated by the Turkish government in
1967, after putting an announcement in a local newspaper and claiming
that the owners could not be found.
Several years ago, Sudjian's attorney Ali Elbeyoglu filed a lawsuit
on her behalf in Turkey seeking the return of her inheritance. The
court turned down her request in April 2013, claiming that the
10-year statute of limitation had expired. The Court of Appeals
reversed the lower court's ruling and demanded a rehearing of
the case, affirming that Sudjian could not have been aware of the
legal announcement placed in a local Diyarbakir newspaper prior to
the property's confiscation. At a minimum, the Court declared that
the ad should have been placed in a Turkish paper with nationwide
circulation. Attorney Elbeyoglu explained that the confiscation of
Sudjian's property violated the protection of private property rights
as defined by the European Convention of Human Rights.
Even if Sudjian were to win her lawsuit, it is unlikely that the
Turkish government would return the very valuable land worth tens
of millions of dollars on which Diyarbakir's military and civilian
airports are located. That was the reason her lawyer told Milliyet
newspaper that Sudjian was seeking compensation only for the value
of her family's property
Lawyer Elbeyoglu also told Milliyet that winning Sudjian's case would
open the door for many more such cases. Significantly, the Turkish
newspaper subtitled its article, "Hope for the Diaspora."
The Turkish media failed to point out that if the Court of Appeals
ruled against Sudjian's claim, she could then take her case to the
European Court of Human Rights. A positive ruling from ECHR would
open the floodgates of lawsuits by Armenians worldwide whose ancestors
had properties that were confiscated by the Turkish government during
the Armenian Genocide.