If a US court acknowledges the Armenian genocide, the Government must follow suit

A US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III large transport aircraft flies over a minaret after taking off from Incirlik air base in Adana, Turkey, on 12 August 2015 Reuters
A US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III large transport aircraft flies over a minaret after taking off from Incirlik air base in Adana, Turkey, on 12 August 2015 Reuters

By ROBERT FISK
INDEPENDENT

There is no arcane historical legal argument but an embarrassing political case, in which three named Armenians – who are full US citizens – will assert their rights to land under the Incirlik Nato base in Turkey

Incirlik is America’s forward air base in Turkey, take-off point for the US air battle against Isis. But in less than two months, a group of Armenians, all descendants of the 1915 genocide of one-and-a-half-million Christians massacred by Ottoman Turkey, will claim in a US court that the land on which America’s jets take off to bomb Syrian and Iraqi targets belongs to them, and must be returned to their families.
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“Armenian Genocide: Recognition and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Legal and Political Aspects” Conference held in the European Parliament

 (L-R) Cem Sofuoglu, Ove Bring, Dogan Ozguden, Hagop Der Khatchadourian, Guillaume Perrier

(L-R) Cem Sofuoglu, Ove Bring, Dogan Ozguden, Hagop Der Khatchadourian, Guillaume Perrier

Brussels, 31 May, 2016.- The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) organized a conference titled “Armenian Genocide: Recognition and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Legal and Political Aspects” in the European Parliament, in Brussels; the conference was hosted by member of the European Parliament, Dr. Charles Tannock (UK, ECR).

Invited panelists to this conference were Cem Sofuoglu, Turkish human rights lawyer and local counsel, leading the lawsuit of the Catholicosate of Cilicia against the Turkish government, which seeks the return of the historic seat of the Catholicosate, located in Sis (currently Kozan), Dr. Ove Bring, Professor Emeritus of International Law, Stockholm University and the Swedish Defence University, Mr. Dogan Ozguden, Turkish journalist and publisher and Mr. Guillaume Perrier, French journalist and author, who was the correspondent of “Le Monde” in Istanbul, in the years 2004 – 2014. The moderator was Mr. Hagop Der Khatchadourian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee-International.
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Turkish Scholar Discusses Armenian Genocide Reparations

Turkish scholar Sait Çetinoğlu
Turkish scholar Sait Çetinoğlu
YEREVAN (Armenpress)—It is hard to expect confrontation from Turkey, from a society which created its whole world through taking the neighbor’s wife, girl, work and fields. It is very difficult to overcome the moral and psychological situation which was created in 1915, Turkish scholar Sait Çetinoğlu said.

He stated that the Armenian Genocide was committed by the party-army-people cooperation, that’s why we deal with the issue of collective responsibility. “Besides the fact that Turkish people gained material interest from the Genocide, they declared the perpetrators of that crime as their heads which is another issue of responsibility. From this perspective, the recognition of the Genocide will mean destruction of paradigm of the country’s foundation,” he said.
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HDP Calls for Genocide Recognition, Reparations, Return of Stolen Property

HDP-620x264ANKARA, Turkey (ARMENIAN WEEKLY)—The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey released a statement on April 24 condemning the Turkish government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide and urging a full restoration of justice. Specifically, the HDP called for recognition of the genocide of Armenians and Syriacs (Assyrians), reparations for genocide victims, and the return of all seized and appropriated properties taken during and after the crime.

The statement also called for the lifting of the unilateral blockade imposed by Turkey on Armenia; the removal of genocide denial and hate speech from Turkish textbooks; an end to Turkey’s policy of racial and religious profiling; and the granting of citizenship to all those who trace their roots to the country.
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Genocide Reparations: A Matter of International Urgency in 2016

Thomas-Samuelian
By Tom Samuelian

If the horrors of 2015 and 2016 have taught us nothing else, it is that genocide reparations in 2016 are more pressing than a century ago – and not primarily for the Armenian victims and their descendants, but for international peace and security. The consequences of impunity for the Armenian Genocide have compounded for a century and now once again threaten the security of the community of nations. As the past year’s public statements and centennial events made amply clear, the Armenian Genocide has been recognized, over and again, even by those
countries and leaders that from time to time stammer at uttering the word. Paradoxically, this has multiplied the hazard of impunity. Commemoration without atonement teaches the wrong lesson. Continue reading →

In Geneva His Holiness Catholicos Aram I Meets With The Legal Team

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ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org — In continuation of the landmark case for the return of the historical Seat of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia at the Monastery of St. Sophia in Kozan, Turkey, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I held a meeting with his legal team in Geneva on Saturday, March 5th, to discuss progress of the case filed before the Constitutional Court of Turkey on April 27th, 2015. Continue reading →

Restitution process may be pushed irrespective of the Genocide recognition. Raffi Kalfayan

RKalfayan
The forth session of the “Armenians after the Genocide Centennial Anniversary” three-day research symposium was held in German city of Duisburg organized by Assembly of Armenians in Europe. As the organization informs in a statement the session was titled “Genocide and the Armenian Claims; clarification the term from the political and legal perspective.”

Co-chairman of the Armenian Bar Association of France, lawyer Mrs. Verzhini Tyushe spoke on the topic of “Armenian cause in the International Law.”
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