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European Court Finds Catholicosate’s Suit Inadmissible, and Could Not be Appealed

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN
PUBLISHER, THE CALIFORNIA COURIER

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia (headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon) filed a lawsuit on April 25, 2015, against the government of Turkey seeking the return of its historic seat in Sis (present-day Kozan district of the Adana Province) which was confiscated in 1921.

The first of its kind lawsuit was filed in the Constitutional Court of the Turkish Republic because the claim raised issues of property rights that lower courts would not have jurisdiction to overturn the maze of laws adopted by Turkey in 1915 and succeeding years. At the recommendation of the Justice Ministry of Turkey, the Constitutional Court referred the Armenian Church lawsuit to the lower courts. The lawyers for the Catholicosate of Cilicia, however, decided to appeal the case directly to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, on December 8, 2016.
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“Transnational Justice: The Road To Reparations”

PASADENA (Asbarez)—Hundreds of community leaders and members, scholars and activists gathered at the Pasadena Convention Center on October 6 and 7 for the 4th Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region Grassroots Conference to hear experts in law, politics, media discuss modes of advocacy in the active pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

The conference kicked off on Friday evening with an exclusive screening of the much-anticipated documentary “Architects of Denial” followed by a welcoming reception of the two-day conference that continued on Saturday, October 7 at the same location.
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Armenian Legal Center Announces Property Documentation Database Project

ALC Executive Director Kate Nahapetian outlines road to reparations at ANCA-WR Grassroots Conference in Pasadena

PASADENA—Kate Nahapetian, Executive Director of the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights, announced the organization’s Property Documentation Database Project while discussing several of ALC’s initiatives and the path to reparations at the Armenian National Committee’s Western Region Grassroots Conference on October 7, 2017.

The Armenian Legal Center announced its project, a database documenting stolen, confiscated, or lost property taken during the Armenian Genocide, such as homes, orchards, land, bank accounts, insurance policies, bonds, art, jewelry and other properties.
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Dr. Henry Theriault Engages Community in Conversation on Genocide Studies

BELMONT, Mass. (A.W.)—The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)/Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues presented “Setting the Agenda: Genocide Studies Today and the Place of the Armenian Genocide” on Sept. 21.

The program featured a conversation with Dr. Henry Theriault, who was recently elected president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) and who is associate vice president for academic affairs at Worcester State University. Joining Dr. Theriault in conversation was NAASR Academic Director Marc Mamigonian .
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Henry Theriault Elected President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars

BRISBANE, Australia (A.W.)—Professor Henry C. Theriault was elected President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) on July 11, at the IAGS conference in Brisbane, Australia.

“Genocide studies has been at the forefront of recent human rights advances. Dire political climates in the US, Europe, and other areas threaten this progress. Racism, xenophobia, misogyny, etc. pervade public discourse and drive repressive legal and political regressions the world over. Genocide’s prevalence even threatens increase,” Theriault said during his nomination. “Against this, a vibrant IAGS is essential. Demagogues attack the sensibilities genocide studies engenders. Our work is a crucial challenge to their propaganda. IAGS must strive against this marginalization while innovatively expanding the field, especially creating space for emerging scholars particularly vulnerable to this backlash,” he added.
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Before We Talk about Armenian Genocide Reparations, There Is Another Accounting Due

Did the USSR Really Lose the Cold War? Maybe as a Whole, but Some Have Turned Loss into Staggering Advantage and Profit. Now It’s Time They Pay for the Damage They Have Done—and Are Doing—Before It’s Too Late.

By Henry Theriault
From the Armenian Weekly 2017 Magazine Dedicated to the 102nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Beyond History

In addition to other topics and audiences, I speak somewhat frequently on the legacy of the Armenian Genocide to and with primarily Armenian audiences in the United States and around the world. Quite often, community members and even academics assume I am a historian. I have to correct them—at least when I have the opportunity. I don’t mean to suggest that I am insulted by being considered a historian, but as I tell people, that’s just not what I do. Now that I am more recognized for work on reparations, the misidentification sometimes shifts to assuming I am a lawyer or legal scholar. Again, the correction.

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Ümit Kurt Explores Turkey’s Laws on Armenian Genocide-Era Dispossession Cases (Video)

The Armenian Weekly

WASHINGTON—Dr. Ümit Kurt, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, outlined the complex laws promulgated by Turkey to systematically dispossess Armenians of their properties during and after the Armenian Genocide, in a Feb. 28 talk at George Washington University Law School.

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Cilicia Catholicosate Officially Appeals to European Court of Human Rights

(L to R) Professor of international law Nora Bayrakdarian, Catholicosate team coordinator and adjunct professor of religion and ethics Teny Pirri-Simonian, international lawyer and professor at McGill University Payam Akhavan, representative of Catholicos Aram I Archbishop Kegham Khatcherian, EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian (Photo: EAFJD)

BRUSSELS, Belgium (A.W.) – On Dec. 6, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia officially filed the application to reclaim the historical headquarters of the Holy See of the Great House of Cilicia from Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
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