Descendants of Genocide Victims Demand Compensation

PanARMENIAN.Net - The compensation budget of 17 million USD is a result of the agreement reached between "Axa" insurance company and the lawyers of Armenian organizations in US supporting descendants of genocide victims. Yet two years ago American Armenians, whose ancestors had escaped from 1915 massacres, petitioned to the court of California. The petition was preceded by the order of the governor of California Gray Davis who extended the responsibility period of insurance companies till 2010. This enabled local Armenians to defend their rights on a judicial basis. However, the court made no verdict. The parties managed to reach agreement without court and the judge only ratified a peace agreement, according to which the descendants of insurance policy holders will be paid 11 million USD. Besides that, 3 million USD will be paid to Armenian charity organizations in France and another 3 million USD will cover court expenses and notification of descendants. The compensations will be paid by a special fund which will be created in the beginning of 2006.

People who suppose to be descendants of "Axa" insurance policy holders do not need to undertake any actions for now. They only need to wait for the publication of the list of clients insured by the company's Turkish branch which functioned in Western Armenia. Those who find the names of their ancestors in the list of clients, will have to present documents proving their relationship. It is worth mentioning that it will not be necessary to present the insurance policy. Those who do not find the names of their relatives in the list, will have to prove their relationship by presenting the original of insurance policy. Thus, the descendants of Western Armenians will have to dig in family archives again. This time, the Ministry of Justice of Armenia will probably not join the process. It is worth reminding that thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia, it was possible to rapidly solve all the problems connected with the legal support to the descendants of insurance policy holders of American "New York Life Insurance" company. The experience of the lawyers gained during the work with "New York Life Insurance" can be quite useful for this time.

Meanwhile, it should be mentioned that there are still quite a number of insurance companies that have certain obligations towards the victims of Armenian genocide. For this purpose, the Armenian National Committee of America and the Armenian Assembly have hired the best lawyers and have engaged congressmen who have initiated the bill 3323 on "Fair Insurance of Armenian Victims". If the bill is passed all the insurance companies will be obliged to open their 1875-1923 archives to find the names of Armenian insurance policy holders of the mentioned period. The successful outcome with "New York Life Insurance" company will be a good impulse for a breakthrough in the legal processes with other insurance companies.

Extremely important is the propagandistic background of the disputes with insurance companies. Besides compensations, it is necessary to inform vast masses about the sources of the problem. This will serve as another occasion to demonstrate the consequences of the monstrous genocide. In this respect, it is worth reminding that last year lawyer Ben Natly brought a suit against "New York Life Insurance" company because in the announcements addressed to the descendants of genocide victims there was no mention about the fact that the problem had originated as a result of the genocide, organized by the Turkish government. This is a very important point and it is currently protected by the hired American lawyers. Ankara fears that as a result, the insurance companies will demand compensation from the Turkish government as successor of Ottoman Empire. For this reason, the head of the Assembly of Turkish organizations of America Erjument Kilich calls to consider this threat. "Turkey may appear face-to-face with the powerful banking system of USA and American-influenced insurance companies", Erjument Kilich says. Kilich has calculated that if hundred years ago the total sum of compensations to Turkish Armenians was only several million dollars, today the sum has already reached several trillions. In order to prevent the tragedy, Kilich suggests to turn to Jewish and Japanese lobby structures of USA. "If we do not undertake necessary measures, Armenians will demand compensation from insurance companies which in their turn will demand trillions of dollars from Turkey", the head of Turkish lobbyist organization says. For the prevention of dangerous developments, he suggests to turn to the Jewish lobby of USA, but should the Turks rely on Jews? Most of the banks and insurance companies that have suffered losses because of Armenian genocide belong to Jews. Thus, it is a case when the interests of Armenians and Jews coincide. The descendants of Armenian genocide victims will do everything to make it possible for the insurance companies to achieve compensation of losses from those who are really guilty of 1915 events.