California-based lawyers
Brian S. Kabateck,
Vartkes Yeghiayan,
Mark J. Geragos, and
William Shernoff filed a series of lawsuits against American and European financial institutions in order to recover Armenian assets and insurance compensations.
- In July 2004, after California Legislature passed the Armenian Genocide Insurance Act, descendants of Armenian Genocide victims settled a case for about 2400 life insurance policies from New York Life written on Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire.[28] Some of the life insurance policies were written as early as 1875, but were not paid after the Genocide. Around 1916-1918, the Turkish government attempted to recover for the people it had killed with the argument that there are no identifiable heirs to the policy holders, but did not succeed.[28][29] The settlement provided 20 million dollars, of which 11 million was for heirs of the Genocide victims.[28]
- In 2005, the French insurance company AXA was also accused of not paying compensations to the descendants of those who perished during the Armenian Genocide. After a class-action lawsuit, it agreed to pay 17 million dollars to descendants and Armenian philanthropic groups.[30] In March 2010, the company provided life insurance premiums to 1,000 families of descendants of Armenians killed in 1915.[31]
- In 2006, descendants of the Armenian Genocide filed a class action lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank which seeks the recovery of millions of dollars of money and property withheld by the two German banks after the Armenian Genocide.[6] The lawsuit asserts that the banks profited from the 1915 atrocities in order to conceal and prevent the recovery of assets belonging to Armenian families.[6] The banks' cooperation has been limited.[6]
Against the Getty museum
On June 1, 2010, the Western Prelacy of the
Armenian Apostolic Church of America has sued the
J. Paul Getty Museum to demand the return of seven pages ripped from a sacred Armenian Bible dating back to 1256 as well as damages of 35 million dollars.
[32] According to the Western Prelacy, the seven pages were ripped from the Armenian Church's
Zeyt'un Gospels during the genocide.
[33] The Zeyt'un Gospels were illustrated by
Toros Roslin, and the rest of the sacred book is located at the
Matenadaran in Yerevan, Armenia.
[34] According to the Getty, the museum legally acquired the pages, which is known as the Canon Tables, in 1994 from an anonymous private collector "after a thorough review of their provenance."
[34] Michael Bazyler, a
Chapman University law professor and member of the plaintiff's legal team, believes this is the first case filed in the United States for the return of cultural or religious objects taken around the time of
World War I.
[34]
Against the Turkish government and two banks
On July 29, 2010, Armenian-American lawyers filed a federal lawsuit against the
Turkish government, the
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and
Ziraat Bankası, seeking compensation for the descendants of Armenians whose property was allegedly seized during the Armenian Genocide. The plaintiffs are Garbis Davouyan of Los Angeles and Hrayr Turabian of Queens. The suit - the first directed against the government of the Republic of Turkey - alleges breach of
statutory trust, unjust enrichment,
human rights violations and violations of
international law.
[35] It seeks compensation for land, buildings and businesses allegedly seized from Armenians along with bank deposits and property, including priceless religious and other artifacts, some of which are now kept in museums in the Republic of Turkey. The lawsuit claims more than a million Armenians were killed in forced marches, concentration camps and massacres "perpetrated, assisted and condoned" by Turkish officials and armed forces. Lawyers for the plaintiffs think that records of the properties and profits still exist, and they are seeking an accounting that could reach billions of dollars.
[35]
and I used to work with armenian refugees from another conflict.
