After struggling for decades to get the Armenian Genocide recognized, and having taken legal action against western banks and insurance companies, Armenian Americans filed their first lawsuit against the Republic of Turkey last week, seeking compensation for confiscated properties and belongings, and loss of income as a consequence of the genocide of 1915-23.
The lawsuit also targets the Central Bank of Turkey and the Ziraat Bank as financial instruments of the Turkish government. These banks, as well as government-owned Turkish Airlines and Tourism Office, have branches in the United States, making them subject to American jurisdiction for the purposes of this lawsuit. Should this case succeed, the plaintiffs’ attorneys could demand the seizure of Turkish governmental assets located in the United States.
The multi-billion dollar class action lawsuit was filed in U.S. Federal Court by attorneys Berj Boyajian, Mark Geragos, Ara Jabagchourian, and Brian Kabateck on behalf of Garbis Davoyan of Los Angeles, Hrayr Turabian of New York City, and many Armenians whose ancestors had properties in Turkey. The grandfathers of Davoyan and Turabian owned land near Aintab and Adana.
The complaint charges the Republic of Turkey and its predecessor of confiscating, selling, and deriving income from real estate and personal property—businesses, buildings, lands, bank deposits, and priceless religious artifacts now housed in Turkish museums—owned by hundreds of thousands of Armenians who were deported and exterminated during the genocide. Specifically, the lawsuit seeks to recover moneys wrongfully received and deposited in the Turkish Treasury, government agencies, and other organizations affiliated with the state of Turkey.
During and after World War I, Turkey adopted several laws regulating the administration of properties allegedly “abandoned” by Armenians. The Turkish government collected rents and sale proceeds from these properties, and deposited the receipts in its Treasury in the names of their original owners, to be returned to them subsequently. Instead, the government withheld these properties and the income derived from them.
The plaintiffs accuse the Republic of Turkey of directing and participating “in a deliberate plan of forced deportation, confiscation, and extermination in furtherance of the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, torture, rape, starvation, physical and mental abuse, summary execution, and genocide.”
The news of the lawsuit was splashed across the front pages of most Turkish newspapers last week, causing great agitation in the country. Independent of the lawsuit’s outcome, Turkish officials are certainly aware that it would generate worldwide publicity on Armenian demands from Turkey emanating from the genocide. Given the traditional Turkish over-reaction to any and all Armenian issues, it would not be surprising if Turkey’s leaders would become so irate as to withdraw their signature from the already frozen Armenia-Turkey protocols. Also, Ankara could abandon its failed efforts to woo some elements of the Armenian Diaspora.
Imagine how furious would Turkish officials become when Armenians demand the return of Turkey’s Presidential Palace in Ankara, located on land confiscated from the Kassabian family. Furthermore, the Incirlik Air Base, a joint American-Turkish military facility near Adana, is built on the land of a former Armenian village. Armenians could sue both the Turkish and U.S. governments for deriving benefits from the expropriated properties of Armenian peasants.
Last week’s lawsuit is a long overdue step forward in the pursuit of Armenian demands from Turkey and obtaining justice for the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Armenians must now concentrate their efforts on demanding fair compensation or return of all they lost during the genocide. Similar lawsuits should be filed with the European Court of Human Rights, since Turkey is a member of the European Council and is obligated to comply with the court’s verdict.
It would be highly desirable to have the Armenian Bar Association or a similar entity coordinate such legal action and provide the necessary counsel and resources for future lawsuits. It is important to coordinate such actions with the government of Armenia, regardless of whether it formally joins in the lawsuit. The unified diaspora structure, proposed in an earlier column, could well serve as a coordinating body for lawsuits dealing with pan-Armenian issues.
Such lawsuits must be filed with utmost care, preparation, and professionalism, as they impact the entire Armenian nation. Should any of these lawsuits not move forward due to procedural reasons, the Turkish government would quickly claim victory by misrepresenting the court’s decision. Needless to say, judges handling such politically sensitive cases involving foreign governments are expected to come under intense pressure from both Ankara and Washington!
After seeking genocide recognition for almost a century, Armenians must now devote their time and energy to pursue all legal avenues—U.S. federal courts, courts in various countries including Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights, and the World Court in order to recoup their massive losses and regain their historic rights.
Justice delayed is justice denied!
Harut Sassounian
It’s about time – My grandparents were very wealthy with vast amounts of land THAT I STILL HAVE THE DEEDS FOR. Mr. Sassounian, if you could guide me and anyone in my position to participate in this law suit and forward copies of the deeds to the right people, that would be highly appreciated. Also, it is equally important at this juncture that all Armenians BE UNITED IN THIS CAUSE. The Turks are true enemies to not only the Armenians everywhere, but to humanity itself. They cannot and never should be trusted which was a mistake by our forefathers who blindly didn’t prepare for their own betrayal and eventual demise with all personal property stolen. Though the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Genocide was Racially motivated the true intention WAS THEFT. Just as they showed no sense of humanity or remorse to even the smallest child or the elderly, we as a nationality must never forget and understand they are collectively the enemy of our people and we should collectively view them as such and collectively take action as such.
Loving this so much.. Pay back’s a B*** ..
FINALLY !! Its our time to get back whats rightfully ours..
Now THIS is progress folks. VERCHABES!
I couldn’t agree more with John and Jack.
Similar lawsuits should be filed in several other countries.
The ABA should be playing a major role in this process.
What have they been waiting for all these years???
Where are the great Armenian lawyers in Turkey hidding?
John.. i am so glad that you possess your grandparents deeds.. You can definintely be a small yet very very important part of this lawsuite..
We need some sort of direction for people like John who is lucky enough to have the original paperwork to connect with the lawyers and present their case… there should be a hotline or a group dedicated specifically for this cause..
Oh I pray to God… just pray my little heart out that we will win this.. we will finally get the world to recognize that after so many years of suffering and denial we are still strong and will never stop fighting.. no matter how big and bad the Devil (Turkey) is…
God Bless to those who are involved in this fight… May our Lord protect, and watch over you..
Gayane
We are truly living in incredible times. This is Talaat and all his successors worst nightmare. THEY created the Armenian diaspora and sold there people a “history” of denial to cover up the crime. Now that diaspora has world class education and motivation. Driven by the emotional memory of our grandparents, that diaspora, created by the Turks, is ont he offense to seek justice denied.
When we get negative on the state of our cause, stop and think for a moment that 95 years after the crime, our people have not forgotten, that lawsuits are being pursued, that Armenia is free, that churches are being opened in western Armenia, and that Turks are active in acknowledging the genocide. This is another step in our long recovery. God Bless these patriots.
What about those of us who don’t have deeds or paperwork? My Grandmother’s village was destroyed, her family killed, and her, kidnapped into slavery. How do i get justice? I have soemthing coming to me don’t I? How do you ask for justice when the witnesses are all dead? Even my Father, now dead this year. I have contended for my whole life that the US and Turkey owe me. I want $2million US tax free, right now before I die. How do I get it? Who advocates for me?
John,
My e-mail addres is: sassoun@pacbell.net.
Harut Sassounian
My father Tateoss Durgerian whom lived in the Village of Sis, now renamed Chatal Olukh, in the Provence of Shabin Kara Hissar owned not only his home but a wheat treshing mill, along many acres of land. He escaped the Turkish Army and came to America, but after the war he found out they killed his wife and three children along with his father & mother. A brother also was in the Turkish Army and was also killed. We have visited Sis Village twice, once in 1993 and once in 2005 and found my fathers home which is located across from a large stone formation. The village is all mixed Turks. My mother whom came from the Village of Goteh, now named Keutur, in the Provence of Erzerum, was the only survivor from her village. They sent the whole village out on a death march killing them one by one. My mother had two children which they bayoneted one and the other went 13 days with no food and died. She left the child in the water for burial. She lost her husband, father & mother, and all her relatives. She claimed if anyone survived her brother was the only one not in the village that day. My mothers name was Satenig Guilbenkian Vartanian. She was saved by Missionaires and ended up in Istanbul. My father located two brothers & one sister whom survived and was also located in Istanbul. My father brought them to America in 1920 along with Satenig whom he married in Lowell, Mass. in 1920 and had four more children. We have no deeds to claim what belonged to my parents, but land returns, reparations are a must. Please pass my parents story on to the Lawyers. We thank you. Stephan T. Dulgarian – Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Finally!… A victim of a crime suies for damages. Our 95 year delayed legal fight scattered the material evidence of our cause and damaged its credibility in so many ways including by giving Turkey the time and space to portray the Genocide as a myth… This is what they have been fearing ever since they committed the Genocide. This is what made them leave most of their eastern provinces undeveloped because they figured they might return them one day. The time for reckoning has been long overdue. Turkey even plays mental games by portraying the meek Armenians who do not fight for what is theirs as “good Armenians” and the ones who do, ie Diasporan Armenians as “bad Armenians”. Well, they do not know what’s coming their way when we finally flex our legal muscles. These lawsuits will be effective if:
1. They are very well prepared and have as many material documents/proof as possible. I agree with Gayane that there should be announcements/guidance to individuals who can turn in property deeds etc.
2. They should take place in every country in the same way the Genocide recognition efforts are being coordinated internationally.
3. Most importantly, they need to be highly published all over the world. This can perhaps be the most influential outcome of these lawsuits because it will finally attach real faces, properties, bank accounts etc to the highly publicized but very generic term of “Genocide”. The Turkish government is going to come out tooth and nail against these lawsuits, so even if they we lose because of comparatively smaller resources, these lawsuits can prove to bring very beneficial exposure and propaganda for our cause.
4. Go for the kill. Make as big of a splash as possible. Definitely bring up the Presidential Palace and Incirlik. If anything for the unbelievable headlines they will make:”The Turkish Presidential Palace built on stolen Armenian property belonging to the Kassabian family”, “Armenians sue Turkey and the US for using stolen Armenian property to build Incirlik on, deeds available” etc.
It may have taken us years to get stronger to finally do this. This is the time to go for the jugular with all our forces and with all the members of our community. It is about time!
In my father’s own words: “…they(Turkish soldiers) decided to take us from Ghozat to Chemishgazak. They had donkeys with saddle bags. They put two children, one on each side of each donkey. They wanted me to get on the donkey and into the saddlebag. By that time I was five years old and if I must say so, I was a very clever child. I was alert. I told the soldiers that I would not get on the saddle on the donkey because I knew my way to Chemishgazak very good. They gave in. We started our journey. Some of the kids on the donkeys, some of us walking. On the way to Chemishgazak, there are some mountains and valleys. When we reached the mountain top, the kids riding the donkeys were thrown from the mountain to the valley. All I heard was screaming and crying. Up to today, I still hear in my ears that same screaming and crying. What did those poor innocent children do to deserve that kind of punishment?” I have no deeds, no papers – only these horrendous eyewitness accounts. As we know, each one of the thousands and thousands of survivors lived with their own horrible memories. Thank God for Mr. Mark Geragos and all the aforementioned. Thank you, Mr. Sassounian, for your clear, concise reporting and for your unwavering commitment. As you wrote, “Justice delayed is justice denied!”
Thank you Mr. Sassounian.
I just want to make something clear: This is an uphill battle because the State department, hence the US, has clearly the best interest of Israel. The true rulers of Turkey today are of Zionist origins. So we are basically fighting one and the same and the US state department has clearly avoided the recognition of the Armenian Genocide at the continual request and warnings of the state department. This will not change anytime soon. This is all about influence, protection and most of all money.
Interests change, so are the relations between the nations. Besides, what is it in a mere apology from the Turkish government offered to Armenians that can potentially harm Israel’s interests or Israel’s influence, protection and money??
AMEN KATIA JAN.. AMEN… i am all for it…. go out with force.. no stepping back or fearing the worst.. we have to give all out best…
We have to expose this as much as possible.. i am not sure if Armenian Channels’ have been talking about this but they should start doing it.. the newspapers, the international otulets..everyone…
I agree with John.. it is all about the money.. the green… the mula.. Turkey is flying high and mighty because she has the resources, the blood money, the wealth and riches of our people.. she knows with money she can buy out everyone who is weak.. and we have seen it right here with our own govt of United States… Obama favoring Muslim world vs Christian world will be the biggest obstacle to many endeavor we take upon ourselves; however we have something he does not.. A SOUL, A CONSCIOUS, A HEART, A CHARACTER…..and i know we will win…
I hope that every wealthy Armenian all over the world help out with monetary resources to everyone who wants to get this magnificent plan out and about… that is where we need to pull our resources together…
God Bless
Gayane
Why am I not surprised! Once again, the thought police of the editorial board censors and delets my post. At least you’re consistant.
Thank you once again Mr. Sassunian (I saw you at an event last week but was too shy to approach you to tell you how much I admire your consistant valuable reporting and dedication to our cause). I am confident that you will follow this article with another that delves into the legal intricacies and parameters of this lawsuit, in an effort to educate our communities regarding what qualifies to be included in this class action lawsuit? Many of us do not have the deeds to our grandparents’ properties for the obvious reason that they were forced out of their homes under very violent and hostile circumstances. How can our claims qualify to be part of this class action lawsuit? Can specific descriptions of where these properties were located qualify? I think a thorough interview with the lawyers involved is also in order. If this lawsuit is utilizing US laws pertaining to grievances over stolen properties/assets, are there avenues being also considered for the criminal/manslaughter part? We have been waiting for the leading nations of the world to acknowledge the Genocide, in order for us to pursue the mass murder charges against the Turkish state. Now that it is apparent that the acknowledgement of our Genocide by the US, Britain and Israel is not in the cards for the near future, I truly believe that postponing our rightful legal charges for mass murder is being undermined and is playing to the advantage of the above mentioned countries who have decided that the pursuit of legal justice for the Genocide is not politically beneficial to them, and might interfere with their plans for the region as well as hamper the balance of mutual concessions and beneficial alliances they have woven with Turkey over the years. I believe that the charges for mass murder should not wait for the international charge of Genocide and should commence before the 100th anniversary of the Genocide, in parallel to our efforts to get the above nations to acknowledge it. An elaborate list of everyone’s murdered relatives and the current whereabouts of their descendents should be made and another class action lawsuit for mudered relatives/the potential riches these relatives could have amassed in the following 95 years/the potential riches their potential progeny could have amassed and the psychological trauma the murder of these people has caused to their descendants should be of course among the charges. It is one thing to make the charge of Genocide, it is another to have thousands of people stand up and announce the actual names of all their murdered relatives. Attaching the names of real people who really existed and were murdered, and giving voice to their living descendants can be powerful testimony to the reality of the Genocide and a situation that the US, Britain and Israel will have a hard time ignoring. I can only imagine how many thousands of pages of exerpts the list of the Genocide victims will consist of. This official list should be put together with the cooperation of all of our communities around the world soon regardless. The punishment for the murder of our ancestors should not be politicized. It should be treated as a criminal case parallel to the Genocide’s recognition and reparation. At the end of the day, it is not solely about the properties or the monetary assets, it is about the perpetrator of this horrendous crime to pay for it at all levels. It is about justice. Not bringing up the criminal charges for all these years has unfortunately also hurt our cause. There has to be ways for a nations who do not have the means to afford legal avenues to sue through internatioanl human rights advocating bodies, otherwise small/weak nations will be completely powerless against ethnic cleansing.
I’m with you, Katia K. Legal lawsuits against the Turkish state are long overdue.
We wish to thank Harout Sassounian on Armenians bringing out Law Suits against Turkey for the Genocide they committed from 1915-1923. We also thank Atty. Mark Geragos & his staff of lawyers for pursuing the suit against Turkey for reparations to our Armenian People. God Bless you all for not forgetting what our people have suffered under the Deeds of the Turks.
Attention!!!
Dr.Sassounian and Att.Geragos
Do you have the book “Armenian Jobs in Ottoman Empire” I am not sure of the name.
The author was Vartabed Mesrop? this was his PhD thesis in 1978.
I bought from Dillon’s Bookshop in front of University of London and i gave to some one.
The book is full of names.
There are all the names of Armenian employees who were killed including my Mother’s Uncle Garabed Dabbaghian who was a very famous lawyer in Dikranagerd: Diyarbaker ,Turks use to call him ” Natik Afandi” which means Mr.Speaker he use to win each case and winners use to give him Lands in place of money we have all his tappos with our relatives in Los Angeles
I don’t know if you have them or they approuched you.
This book can help you because they were government employees and their names are there and they were well off and of course had money in the banks.
I am sure if some can get the book from the Britsh Library and may be it is available in the USA Congress Library.
Sylva
all the Armenians living in diaspora should unite their power in a concerted way,in order to put in difficulty turkish governement,so it’s time to Europe’s Armenians to unite their voices to that of living in States
A quick word of advice for all of you gleefully celebrating…Remember one of Newton’s Laws of Thermodynamics…For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction! Think about it for a few moments, then let’s see if you’re all still gleefully celebrating!
Robert, why are you so angry that Armenians want Turkey to apologize and make compensation for causing the death of 1.5 million Armenians? Turkey extinguished Armenians from their homeland of thousands of years and has denied it, lied about it, taught lies about Armenians to its population (including the remnant of Armenians that survived and remained in Turkey) destroyed and allowed the desecration of thousands of churches and confiscated the wealth of a nation under the guise of protection during a trumped up forced “deportation.” This has been going on for 95 years. I understand that some turks have difficulty understanding Armenians anger and demand for justice. You have been taught that we are liars. But either we are all liars, believing the lies of lying historians, diplomats, missionaries and our lying eye-witness grandmothers and Attaturk and Talaat’s own lying words or this is the true story of the murder of a nation. Only the woefully brainwashed or pathologically bigoted could believe this is a “story crafted by Armenians to steal from Turkey and to gain the world’s sympathy.” That is the real fairy tale. Those who think clearly and feel with a human heart have to recognize that it is more logical to accept the truth of the world’s claims (not just Armenians) than to imagine that Armenians have been masterminding a deception for 95 years. Stop and ask yourself Robert, where are all the Armenians who once inhabited the Armenian Vilayets? If they were deported for ‘security reasons’ why were they not repatriated by Turkey once the threat had passed. They didn’t leave their homes, farms, schools,belongings, fortunes and churches willingly. Why didn’t they come back to claim what was their family inheritance after the war> Because they were dead! Dead at the hands of the Turkish government, military, populace and bands of chetteh Turks and Kurds. Armenians don’t want anything that is not rightfully theirs. We want Turkey to face the truth of causing the genocide of a nation and to do the just thing.
I have logged into a dozen of these blogs. It is always the same. The Aremenians try to reason with the Turkish bloggers: “If this did not happen then where did all the Armenians go?” Great, this is what we offer. OK all of us outside of Turkey get it. There is so much evidence that this crime took place that it is indisputable. However, please remeber that it also a crime in Turkey to bring this subject up. You are not going ever settle this argument in a place like this blog. It is wonderful that you have the feedom of speach and can make these statements without fear of oppresion. The Turks don’t so stop backing them into a corner they didn’t make and can’t get out of. Turks have been taught from birth that we are liars and are making unfounded allegations. They have no choice but to stand up to us. If they didn’t, the next knock on the door would be for them. The Turks in the World are as much my Brothers and Sisters as the Armenians are. Since most of them have or have had Armenian Grandmothers, they are more our relatives than they want to believe. It’s not the Turkish people that have to answer for this, it’s the Goverment of Turkey and the Government of the United States. The US backs the Turkish Governement because Americans are afraid of the Russians. They need to keep the radar humming that they operate out of Turkey spying on the Russians. It’s not about our justice it’s about American paranoia. It is for this reason tha the Governement of the United States must stand shoulder to shoulder with the Goverment of Turkey and break out the check book. This is why I will say it again: I want $2 million American Dollars TAX free for me and my family as part of this lawsuit. I’m not kidding. This is my bill for 95 years of rape, murder. torture, and theft by Turkey, and 95 years of looking the other way for the United States. Pay up. I lived with this horror my whole life listening to the stories. I need a happy ending and that is reparation for a family lost. $2 Million Dollars is reasonable and it is something that can be done. The rest of you can make your own deal but this is my offer. I would like to be contacted and I will explain where to send the check. I won’t go away as easily as 1.5 million Armenians. I am dug in. I want my money now, this year.
Yes Robert, you are right. For every action there is a reaction. The Turks who committed the Armenian Genocide always worried about how the world will judge them one day. They knew exactly what they were doing. They took advantage of the cover of war to exterminate the indigenous Armenians from their lands in order to form a purely Muslim Turkic nation. When German embassador Metternich voiced his disdain of Turkey’s “Armenian policy”, Talat told him:”the work that is to be done must be done now; after the war it will be too late.” (Dadrian, German responsibilty in the Armenian Genocide). The Turks back
then knew what their leaders had done, and the Turkish Tribunals themselves sentenced Talat, Enver, Cemal, Dr Nazim and B. Shakir to death for the Armenian deportations and massacres. Ataturk called it a “shameful act”. The Armenians were purposefully aroused and provoked in order to give the Ittihadists a pretext to portray them as rebellers and traitors to arouse the Muslims against them and to give the rest of the world a reason for what they were doing to the Armenians. The fact is that the Armenians were oppressed for hundreds of years under the Tyranny of the Ottoman regime. They were unfairly taxed, subjected to cruel discrimination and called Giavours. Demanding better human rights or independence to live freely on their ancestral lands were distorted and portrayed as rebellion and treason. Neither one of these were legal reasons to deport, plunder and massacre an entire nation. The underlying reason had always been that the Turks wanted to take over the Armenian lands to satisfy their eastward PanTurkic dream. Research and witness accounts have shown that the five so called uprisings at Zeitun, Funducak, Van, Mussa Dagh and Urfa were not connected to each other. They were the result of either purposeful provocation to arouse the villagers which was the case in Van when the fight broke up because the Turks attacked an orphan Armenian girl running to the German Embassy for protection, or it was a desperate defensive fight put together by regular people who had heard about the massacres in other areas and were fighting for the life of their children. Given the fact that the Armenians had endured mass slaughter during the Hamidian massacres 1895-1896 which had claimed the lives of 300,000 Armenians, their fight for self defense is not only understandable but also a normal human reaction.
Yes Robert, our legal demands are a reaction to the action of Genocide that the Turks committed. The Turks can either react honorably to these claims, or dishonorably by continuing to distort and deny. By the way, the is not a celebration. None of us wanted to be born with this in our ancestral background.
The reason Robert is angry, and unhappy is not because of anything else but his own fault… actually i take that back.. it is not all him.. it is his government that poisoined his brain cells for many years and the end result.. well.. we can all see it..
You dream on Robert if you think your govt will get away for this.. and you will get punished along with those who deny and distort history. you will not be saved…now you think about that…
John Moorvatian.. i am a bit confused by your comment.. hmmm..
Gayane
Gayane. Not sure what your are confused about but go ahead and ask. I’ll be happy to explain. If you seek me out on the internet you will find me on many blogs over the years doing battle with the genocide deniers. Even to the point where a Turkish site tracked and published my IP address with maps so killers could try to find me. My positon is this: Because my family was slaughtered I lost something I can never get back. I have no deeds or documents, just a photo of my grandmother and her stories about what happened. I want to be compensated for myself and my family. $2 million US dollars, TAX free, and I want it now. Turkey and the US can write the check because they are both responsible. What else do you want to know?
Well John.. I definintely understand what you are saying..
I was a bit confused because after reading your comment, i felt like you were addressing and demanding the money from us as if we have the money to give you now.. I misunderstood your post.. my apologies..
However, i do agree that everyone who is entitled to receive financial awards for everything Turks stole from our ancestors should be demanded..
You may want to connect with Mr. Sassounian and see how he can assist.. and I wish you and the ARmenian people God’s speed in winning this matter.. and please stay safe John..I dont’ want anyone hurting one of us…anter shun Turqerits amen inch spaseli a..
Gayane
THIS WAY TURKEY WILL CLAIM IT’S OWN LAND AND FINALIZE IT!!
Serious Inquiries I have In This Regard!!
1) Are the Plaintiffs Making their claims to “SELL THEIR [INHERITED] PROPERTY”???
//OR// Keep them … if keeping them… My Question is
“Which Country Owns That Land????”
2) Are the Plaintiffs Making their claims “Only” The amount the United States Government has been paying to the Turkish Government for their base over the plaintiff’s land?
3) Since Turkish Government stole that land… It stole from “Armenia”
Then Armenia’s government must have claim over property taxes from Turkey!!