Turkish Forum

Category: Main Issues

  • SUKRU AYA’S LETTER TO OBAMA RESPONDING TO ANCA CLAIMS

    SUKRU AYA’S LETTER TO OBAMA RESPONDING TO ANCA CLAIMS

    https://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2009/08/2940-aya-s-letter-to-obama-versus-ancas.html

    August 28, 2009 ergun_s

    Much Esteemed and beloved Mr. President,

    Salute, regards, and sentiments from Türkiye, the country where your friendly visit, is treasured!

    As soon as I read the rude, accusatory, and outright disrespectful letter (see below) written to you by Kenneth V. Hachikian, Chairman of ANCA—a shady group currently under investigation by federal agencies for alleged campaign finance and lobbying violations—I felt compelled to write to you and put some light on penned slanders!

    The letter, [quite short of accustomed courtesy and respect when addressing the White House] was urging you to reject the recent ruling of a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Movsesian v. Versicherung A.G. (No. 07-56722, August 20, 2009), which struck down a California special-interest law providing remedies and tax exemptions to ethnic Armenians for alleged wrongs during an alleged genocide.

    I should like to emphasize that because of my affection to too many American or Turkish Armenians with whom I have shared many joys and sorrows of my life and continue to have warm, friendly relations, I have compiled a book using anti-Turkish, (mostly Armenian, American) and neutral sources, which took me some four years. A copy will be mailed to you by my friends in USA as annex to this letter, for your further guidance with more than 2000 verbatim excerpts from books, documents, articles etc. that cannot be refuted by any party. The book has been on the “Open Free E-Book Library” of “Armenians-1915.blogspot.com” “a small group of truth dedicated Turkish Armenians, striving for the normalization of relations and discovery of truth and protection of the present Turkish-Armenians friendly relations”, from the continuous interceptions of diaspora organizations, which for nearly a century have established a “trade or industry of marketing hatred and revenge”, and for which they collect a huge amount of money, some disposed as needed or embezzled during the process!

    Apparently, no one taught these Armenians about the separation of powers in U.S.A. and that it is un-American for the executive branch to contravene the judicial branch (or legislative branch). Such discriminated practices may be all right in Armenia, {a land-locked, poverty-stricken, corrupt, aggressive, and violent Armenia living on the donations and instructions by diaspora groups} but it is frowned upon in America.

    The disrespectful Armenian letter writer also seemed ignorant of the federal supremacy law, which says state laws cannot replace, void, or overrule federal laws. The wily and tricky Armenian lobby thought they found the short cut, by applying local political pressure to get a tailor-made state law to bypass all federal laws. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals saw to it, that those Armenian falsifiers got a good lesson on American government.

    The insolent Armenian letter writer, in asking the White House to interfere with the decision of U.S. Court of Appeals or evaluate a California State Law interpretation as superior to Federal Laws and U.S. Constitution, in effect, was forcing the U.S. Government to violate written bilateral agreements with the sovereign Republic of Turkey. Thus, the deceptive and tiny Armenian lobby was indirectly attempting to manipulate American foreign policy. Excuse, but in simple words, this is like “the tail or tail tip wagging the dog”!

    The expression, such as “Genocide era wrongs”, is not based on any judicial decision, but is set on “hearsay and forgeries” promoted deceptively by biased persons or organizations. My book has hundreds of examples. Armenians also fail to understand that hasty campaign pledges and responsibility of an office may differ after election, and sometimes diametrically opposing things. Overall, American interests always trump preferential or actually discriminatory demands of specific ethnic groups or lobbies! That said, a responsible, truth-defending President, is expected to investigate deeper any pledges made during election campaigns and refrain from unrealistic, untrue, unethical, unequal or biased pledges.

    The “Armenian Genocide” allegations are not supported by the verdict of any “competent tribunal” as set forth by the 1948 U.N. Convention. Such terminology, therefore, is not more than a political statement based on hearsay, forgeries, falsifications, fabrications, distortions, and outright lies. Not every killing or suffering is genocide. Not every war crime or hate crime is genocide. Not every photo, tall tale, documentary, film, book is genocide. Genocide verdict can only be given at a competent tribunal after due process where all sides are given a fair chance to tell its side of the story and cross-examine the evidence and witnesses. This was never done in the case of Turkish-Armenian conflict. Armenians are trying to bypass legislation by applying political pressure. But it will not work! They will never come out on a bilateral commission of investigation or scholarly evaluation. On the contrary, the U.S. records in archives bear plenty evidence that the exact opposite is true, or that brutalities were mutual and mostly inflicted by the ancestors of the claimants as evidenced by their own books and historians!

    Armenian propaganda organizations such as ANCA, should be aware of the fact that the new Turkish Republic had agreed with U.S.A. on Dec. 24, 1923 to study all claims and compensate for the actual losses suffered by the U.S. Citizens, until that date. Their absence of knowledge is proof of their blind antagonism!

    ANCA should also be aware that a joint Committee had been empowered with another agreement dated October 25, 1934 and all U.S. citizens or claimants were given a deadline to submit their claims and evidences. The claims that had been submitted were meticulously verified. A further agreement of “Adjustment of Payment” No.168 dated Sept.8, 1937 was concluded with Turkey. U.S.A. confirmed with letter No.93, dated Sept..23, 1937 to the Republic of Turkey, that “…when the agreed amount is paid, Turkey will be fully discharged of the obligations previously agreed…”:

    Turkey had fulfilled the agreement; claimants had been accordingly paid and USA has no longer any lawful rights to request , 72 years later, additional indemnities for cases studied and settled in 1937!

    Accusing U.S. Governments for “complicity on genocide denial” is an arrogant insult to USA and Turkey, as long as the humiliation of “genocide” stands as a word in the air, never decided by a competent tribunal!

    ANCA organization does not have the immunity to call other parties “criminal”, unless the “crime is proven and the judicial verdict is at hand”. Declarations by some Parliaments or other legally irrelevant and/or unauthorized groups are political and have no judicial merit. They may stroke Armenian egos, but are, otherwise, worthless gestures of bias and bigotry, which are used as asset or assessment for collecting “donations for the cause”!..

    Vague expressions and accusations such as “race extermination or over 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives” stands much short of truths and the U.S. state archives refute them openly because:

    a- “American Military Mission to Armenia” (General Harbord) Report 1920 and Annex Report Nat. Archives 184.021/175 do not mention any “race extermination” but instead refer to “refinements of cruelty by Armenians to Muslims”.

    b- Joint US-Congress Resolution no. 192, April 22, 1922 relative to the activities of Near East Relief ending 31.12.1921, has unanimously resolved that 1,414,000 Armenians were alive. Moreover, (George Montgomery) a member of the US delegation at the Paris Conference had presented a detailed tabulation in 1919, with 1,104,000 Armenians alive, apart from those who had already immigrated to other countries.

    c- Reliable sources show that THE TOTAL ARMENIAN POPULATION in the (1914) Ottoman Empire was less than 1.3 MILLION (or up to a maximum of 1.5 millions) and hence it would be ANCA’s liability to “defy and annul these official U.S. State Records,” and give documentary evidence of which number is to be trusted!

    ANCA is charging the Obama administration of “blocking legal redress of U.S. citizens” without minimal proof. ANCA should be aware of the fact that the Obama administration is responsible for protecting the rights and interests of all true American citizens who took an oath when they were naturalized. In other words, the Obama Administration cannot be held responsible for losses such as of life, property, or inheritance by her citizens in “former countries” (before they were naturalized) from where they immigrated to the US! Prevailing cases of U.S. citizens were promptly settled by former USA Administrations at that time. This does not limit the “U.S. citizens from pursuing their personal claims individually in other countries” under their own liabilities. USA cannot disregard or deviate from her written obligations in international agreements under any ethnic pressure or others, such as by ANCA.

    If ANCA lobby organization is disappointed because Obama treats American citizens of Armenian ethnicity equally with all other American citizens and cannot extend special privileges to ANCA, then I am afraid, ANCA is giving priority to ANCA leaders’ private interests over the interests of American citizens over all.

    There is no place for any prejudice or antagonism in USA’s relations with other countries. It is hard to understand or justify why Armenian community is so fearful of “any type of investigation” (by historical commission or others) unless, of course, there are facts that Armenians do not wish to be brought into the light.

    Obama Administration has taken an oath to serve all American citizens, equally, and to protect their overall interests. A U.S. president cannot support unproven allegations or hearsay that may tarnish American values like justice, fairness, openness, honesty, equality, and compassion for all. The Obama Administration, I hope, will never be part of “any prejudice or antagonism” against any ethnicity, nation, race, or faith on earth!

    I welcome ANCA’s offer to discuss “these matters personally in greater detail” when Armenian falsifiers would support White House’s desire to hear what “other American citizens” may have to say equally in a fair, friendly and civilized conference!

    Most Cordially and Sincerely,

    Sukru Server Aya

    [Author: “The Genocide of Truth” ISBN 978-975-6516-24-9 Istanbul Commerce University Publication 2008]

    Annex:
    a- ANCA’s letter to the White House
    b- Book separately mailed from USA, marked on envelope (Annex of the letter by Sukru S. Aya )

    NOTE: The Armenian Community in Turkey and many Armenians in the world, who can see the personal ego and financial interest of the diaspora, are disturbed by the latter’s arrogance and fomenting frictions on which they thrive! My friends and I are dedicated to decency, truth, reason and compassion and despise “hate merchants”

    c.c.:
    a- U.S.A. Embassy – Çankaya – Ankara (Book formerly presented)
    b- U.S.A. General Consulate – Istanbul – – – – – – -do-
    c- T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlıgı (Foreign Office) Ankara – – -do-

    ***

    And here is the letter written by ANCA, the same organization previously headed by a convicted Armenian terrorist, Topalian, who shamelessly stored explosives next to a school, daycare, and a gas station in Ohio until caught in the act by the FBI:

    ***

    ANCA’s letter to Obama
    The Honorable Barack Obama
    President of the United States
    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
    Washington, D.C. 20500

    Dear Mr. President:

    I am writing to urge you to take immediate steps to publicly reject the flawed ruling of a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Movsesian v. Versicherung A.G. (No. 07-56722, August 20, 2009), that struck down a California law providing remedies for Armenian Genocide-era wrongs, and argued that state level recognition of this crime contradicts “express federal policy” and is therefore unconstitutional.

    You bear direct responsibility, Mr. President, by virtue of your failure to keep your repeated, crystal clear pledges to recognize the Armenian Genocide, for the Court’s judgment that it is the official policy of the Executive Branch of the United States government to actively oppose proper recognition of this crime and, upon this basis, to thus prohibit states from passing laws to help Armenian Genocide-era victims seek to reclaim lost or stolen property. The Court’s interpretation of your broken promise marks an unmistakable and historic low in our government’s long complicity in Turkey’s campaign of genocide denial.

    As you know, over 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives and, of course, many more were deprived of their property as a result of the Ottoman Turkish government’s systematic and deliberate campaign of race extermination. It is particularly tragic, given the thorough understanding that you have articulated regarding the moral, historical, and political meaning of this crime, that, it is under your leadership that the United States government is today not only engaged in complicity in genocide denial, but also, according to a judicial ruling, actively working to ensure that the remaining survivors and their families are denied avenues to seek to reclaim property lost during these massacres.

    Your Administration’s policies, as understood and affirmed by the Court, in addition to blocking legal redress for U.S. citizens, have now opened the door—in unprecedented and profoundly dangerous ways—for interests aligned with the Turkish government to seek to roll back several generations of American civil society efforts to mark this tragedy, including through formal recognition by 42 U.S. states. As such, we once again urge you to publicly reject the Court’s interpretation of your Administration’s position and call upon you to honor your covenant with American voters to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide.

    In closing, I would like to stress to you, once again, how broadly and profoundly disappointing your failure to honor your many commitments on issues of special concern to Armenian American citizens has been for the ANCA, a grassroots organization that, based upon your track record and series of publicly stated commitments, enthusiastically endorsed your candidacy and successfully mobilized an unprecedented community drive to help secure your election. In the wake of your many broken campaign commitments, your silence in the face of this profoundly misguided judicial action would compound the Armenian American community’s sense of betrayal regarding your Administration’s behind the scenes efforts to block adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, your White House’s use of Turkey’s cynically-inspired “roadmap” to defer U.S. recognition, and your State Department’s shameless pressure on Armenia to accept the artificial “historical commission” that Ankara has long advanced to prevent the proper recognition of this crime.

    We remain ready, as we have shared with you on a number of past occasions, to meet with you to discuss these matters personally and in greater detail.

    [signed]
    Kenneth V. Hachikian
    Chairman

    ***

    The Honorable Barack Obama
    President of the United States
    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
    Washington, D.C. 20500

    Dear Mr. President:

    This is to refute the baseless claims and arrogant demands made by the Armenians in a letter to you recently. Kenneth V. Hachikian, chairman of ANCA –the same organization previously headed by a convicted Armenian terrorist, Topalian, who shamelessly stored explosives next to a school, daycare, and a gas station in Ohio until caught in the act by the FBI—

    The discourteous Armenian letter was urging you to reject the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Movsesian v. Versicherung A.G. (No. 07-56722, August 20, 2009), which found a California partsian law providing remedies to ethnic Armenians in life insurance matters during an alleged genocide. This bizarre demand, a clear evidence of lack of understanding of American government, totally contradicts the separation of powers in U.S.A. The impolite Armenian letter also seemed clueless about the federal supremacy law, which stipulates that state laws cannot void or overrule federal laws.

    Demanding that the U.S. Government violate bilateral agreements with the sovereign Republic of Turkey by asking the White House to interfere with the decision of U.S. Court of Appeals is simply un-American.

    Furthermore, the term genocide is not based on a verdict by a competent tribunal and reflects a biased interpretation of WWI events, ignoring the six T’s of the Turkish-Armenian conflict [i.e. tumult (revolts), terrorism, treason, territorial demands, Turkish suffering, and TERESET, temporary resettlement order of May 27, 1915.] Not all killing, suffering, and war crimes are genocide. For a genocide verdict, intent of the perpetrator must be proven at a competent court after due process. That was never done in the Turkish-Armenian conflict. The “Armenian Genocide” allegations are political charges based on hearsay, forgeries, falsifications, fabrications, distortions, and outright lies. Turks suffered, too, at the hands of Armenians and the U.S. archives of the era can attest to that.

    Most importantly, ANCA should learn that the Turkish Republic had agreed with U.S.A. on Dec. 24, 1923 to investigate and redress all claims of losses suffered by the U.S. Citizens, until that date. A joint Committee, empowered with another agreement dated October 25, 1934, did collect and verify all submittals, upon which a third agreement of “Adjustment of Payment” No.168 dated Sept.8, 1937 was concluded with Turkey. U.S.A. confirmed with letter No.93, dated Sept..23, 1937 to the Republic of Turkey, that “…when the agreed amount is paid, Turkey will be fully discharged of the obligations previously agreed…” Turkey had fulfilled the agreement by paying the claimants and the matter was permanently and irrevocably settled.

    If you ever decide to meet that nagging, demanding, deceptive ANCA, please do yourself a favor and invite us, Turkish-Americans, as represented by ATAA, FTAA, and others, to the same meeting and let us dismantle their bogus Armenian claims effortlessly… and with pleasure.

    Sincerely,

    Ergun KIRLIKOVALI
    ATAA, President-Elect
    FTAA, Western Regional Director
    ATASC, Past President

  • Schwarzenegger Appoints Poochigian to the Fifth District Court of Appeal

    Schwarzenegger Appoints Poochigian to the Fifth District Court of Appeal

    Very bad news.

    He is from the same era (Deukmejian) as Justice Armand Arabian who was quoted in Parade magazine after the assassination of Kemal Arikan, Consul General in Los Angeles:  All Armenians have the right to seek redress; some seek it on street corners”.   We led a nationwide campaign to have him censored if not disciplined but the Judicial Commission refused to address the complaint. They would not mention his name and essentially responded that “ The matter about which you wrote has no merit”.  We continued to follow up with letters… to no avail.

    Bonnie Joy Kaslan [[email protected]]

    Newly appointed Judge Poochigian

    SACRAMENTO-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday announced the appointment of Charles S. Poochigian as associate justice of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District.

    Poochigian, 60, of Fresno, has served as an attorney with Dowling, Aaron and Keeler since 2007.  Prior to that, he served as a senator representing the 14th District for the California State Senate from 1998 to 2006 and assemblymember representing the 29th District for the California State Assembly from 1994 to 1998.

    From 1991 to 1994, Poochigian served as the appointments secretary for Governor Pete Wilson and, from 1988 to 1990, he served as chief deputy appointments secretary for Governor George Deukmejian. From 1981 to 1988, Poochigan was a sole practitioner and, from 1975 to 1981, he was a partner for Vartabedian and Poochigian. Poochigian earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Fresno. He fills the vacancy created by the death of Justice Thomas A. Harris. Poochigian is a Republican.

  • Turkish Diaspora Manages To Dismiss Us Congress’s Resolution On “armenian Genocide”

    Turkish Diaspora Manages To Dismiss Us Congress’s Resolution On “armenian Genocide”

    Tuesday, 25 August 2009

    The United States, Washington, Aug. 25 /Trend News, N.Bogdanova/

    The political circuits of Washington DC and US based Turkish Diaspora organizations are not accepting seriously the Armenian initiatives concerning “Armenian genocide” in the US Congress and local law-making organizations, one of leaders of the Turkish Diaspora in California Karahan Mete toldTrend News.

    For example, during the last several months Armenians tried to put through three resolutions in California State’s local Congress, but US based Turkish organizations (TCCA, Turkish Defense Fund, ATAA, TAAF, PAX Turcica, TAAC, Turkuaz, TADF) managed to dismiss those three resolution projects, Mete said.

    He mentions that, the State of California, where Armenian and Greece Diasporas are dominant – is the center for Armenian’s anti-Turkish activities.

    Close relationship between Turkish Diaspora and Senator Darrel Steinberg helped to hinder implementation of a resolution project number AJR 14, which was dedicated to the issue of “Armenian genocide”, and was aimed to keep the “Armenian genocide” on agenda, Mete said.

    The Turkish Diaspora also prevented Armenians’ another resolution number SB 234, which was aimed to propaganda the “Armenian genocide” issue in California’s schools.

    The first version of this resolution meant that any Armenian could go to a school and talk about what happened in 1915 to his relatives, Mete said.

    But in the last version (revised by the Turkish Diaspora) only those ones who participated in 1915 events can do these kinds of lectures at schools.

    “And as nearly none of the participants are alive it seems impossible,” told Mete.

    The third resolution project still remains on California Senate’s agenda under the number AB 961, and it is aimed to prohibit the cooperation between local government and organizations which are working with Turkey.

    The Turkish Diaspora is working hard in Washington DC on dismissing the discussion of “Armenian genoside” in the US Congress during the up-coming fall session.

    Besides the Turkish organizations, the Congressional Caucus on Turkey also works closely with this issue, Congressman Ed Whitefield (Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey)  office told Trend News.

    According to Congressman Whitefield’s office, in an open editorial about US-Turkey relations the law-maker says that with Turkey’s record as such a steadfast ally to the U.S. during troubled times; it would be a dangerous misstep to unnecessarily risk alienating the Turkish people. Yet, efforts are, once again, afoot in the U.S. Congress to label the deaths of ethnic Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire in World War I as genocide.

    He stresses that, “This sort of proclamation, which bears no legal effect, would almost certainly be seen as a slap in the face to Turkey and a harpoon to U.S. relations with the country”.

    According to Congressman, the “Armenian genocide” issue remains a matter of debate by historians, making it foolish, arrogant, and dangerous for politicians to make historical claims for political points”.

    Ed Whitefield also adds that with the two countries (Turkey and Armenia) already working in step to resolve their differences and advance their relationship, U.S. involvement in the situation appears unnecessary and intrusive.

    Turkish Weekly

  • Armenian-American Lawyers and Leaders Should Counter Ruling of Appeals Court

    Armenian-American Lawyers and Leaders Should Counter Ruling of Appeals Court

    sassun-23
    The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an outrageous judicial opinion last week, ruling that the California law that extended the deadline for Armenian-Americans to sue life insurance companies for unpaid claims from the Genocide-era was unconstitutional.
    Furthermore, in a split decision, the Court made a sweeping pronouncement claiming that the State of California had infringed on the foreign affairs power reserved by the Constitution exclusively to the federal government, just because the law in question included a reference to the Armenian Genocide. Two of the three federal judges asserted that Section 354.4 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, adopted by the California Legislature in 2000, contravened the federal government’s policy of not acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.
    By adopting this law, the State of California intended to provide its residents and others the opportunity to protect their legal rights by allowing them until December 31, 2010 to file lawsuits against foreign and domestic life insurance companies which had not paid claims dating back to the Genocide era.
    On the basis of this law, a class action lawsuit was filed against New York Life Insurance Company which was settled in 2005 for $20 million dollars. A second class action lawsuit was filed against Axa, a French life insurance company. It was settled for $17.5 million.
    A third class action lawsuit was filed against Victoria Verisherung AG and two affiliated German insurance companies in 2003. Father Vazken Movsesian, Pastor of St. Peter Armenian Church in Glendale, was the lead plaintiff.
    The attorneys for the German companies contested the lawsuit and filed a motion to dismiss. Federal Judge Christina Snyder rejected the defendants’ contention by ruling that Section 354.4 did not infringe on the federal government’s foreign affairs powers. The defendants then filed an appeal claiming that the California Law “conflicts with the Executive Branch’s policy prohibiting legislative recognition” of the Armenian Genocide. They pointed out that the Administrations of Presidents Bush and Clinton had opposed all three Armenian Genocide resolutions submitted to the House of Representatives in 2000, 2003 and 2007.
    Last week, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over-ruled Judge Snyder, asserting that the California Law in question “impermissibly infringes” on the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. Two of the three judges of the Appeals Court, David R. Thompson and Dorothy W. Nelson, sided with the German insurance companies. The third judge, Harry Pregerson, sided with the Armenian plaintiffs, contending that the State of California has the right to ensure that its residents are fairly treated by insurance companies. He also asserted that he could not find “any evidence of an express federal policy” forbidding states from using the term “Armenian Genocide.”
    This Appeals Court ruling has very serious consequences for the Armenian Cause, far beyond the issue of mere life insurance claims.
    It was highly unusual that Judge Dorothy Nelson was absent from the bench when attorneys from both sides were presenting their oral arguments to the Court of Appeal. Given her apparent lack of interest in this case, one wonders if she delegated viewing the videotape of the hearing to her law clerks.
    Armenian-Americans should call for the impeachment of Judges Thomson and Nelson for legislating from the bench, falsely claiming that Congress and individual states are “prohibited” from adopting resolutions on the Armenian Genocide, and injecting political views into their judicial opinion. It is incredible that judges who live in Southern California — in the midst of the largest Armenian community in the world — are so ignorant about the most basic facts of the Armenian Genocide.
    There are also serious errors in the opinion issued by the two judges on August 20, 2009. For example, on page 11434, they claim that “there is no citation or evidence in the record of these other thirty-nine state statutes which purportedly reference the ‘Armenian Genocide.’” This statement is patently false. On page 19 of the “Answering Brief” filed on April 30, 2008, the plaintiffs’ attorneys provide the following citation: “To date, thirty-nine states have formally recognized the Armenian Genocide by legislation or proclamation. See, Armenian National Committee of America, ‘Genocide Recognition by U.S. States’ Online at .“
    Judges Thompson and Nelson, in their eagerness to prove that California contradicted the Executive Branch’s policy on the Armenian Genocide, selectively refer only to the resolutions that had failed to come to a full House vote. The judges do not mention the material fact that in line with California’s statute 354.4, the U.S. House of Representatives twice adopted resolutions on the Armenian Genocide in 1975 and 1984, and Pres. Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation in 1981, acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.
    These judges are also plainly wrong in claiming that the U.S. Congress and individual States had interfered in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy on the Armenian Genocide. The resolutions adopted by 41 U.S. States and hundreds of proclamations issued by governors, mayors, and county supervisors throughout America are commemorative in nature, simply reaffirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide and urging the President of the United States to do likewise. Furthermore, the U.S. government does NOT have a policy of denying the Armenian Genocide.
    Interestingly, the Appeals Court judges disclosed that Turkish officials had made a sinister attempt to interfere in their ruling. They stated that Nabi Sensoy, the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, sent them a letter expressing his country’s strong opposition to California statute 354.4, and asking the Court to overturn it. The Turkish Ambassador had sent a similar letter earlier to another Federal Judge, trying to interfere in a lawsuit by Armenian plaintiffs against German banks. Although Judges Thomson and Nelson assert that they ignored the Turkish Ambassador’s angry letter, it must have surely reinforced their own view that California was intruding into Washington’s conduct of foreign policy. It is simply appalling that the Turkish government would try to stick its nose in a lawsuit between Armenian-Americans and German insurance companies even though the plaintiffs in this case neither accuse Turkish officials of any wrongdoing nor make any demands from them. Similarly, the attorneys for the German insurance companies have no business objecting to whether California was infringing upon U.S.-Turkish relations.
    The Law offices of Geragos & Geragos; Kabatek, Brown, Kellner LLP; and Yeghiayan Law Firm — the attorneys for the plaintiffs — must have realized by now that this is no longer simply a life insurance issue dealing with the unpaid claims of their clients. This lawsuit has now mushroomed into a case that calls into question the authority of California and 40 other States to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Furthermore, it is highly puzzling why the plaintiffs’ attorneys had not invited California’s Attorney General to file a friend of the court brief to defend his State from accusations that it had adopted a statute that ostensibly violated the U.S. Constitution. Hopefully, this serious oversight would be remedied by requesting that the State Attorney General file such a brief when the plaintiffs’ attorneys seek a rehearing of the case “en banc” by a larger panel of the Court of Appeals. Should all appeals fail, however, Armenians could lobby for the adoption of a new California statute that would allow the filing of lawsuits against foreign insurance companies, without the problematic language.
    For several years, this writer has been urging the Armenian American community and its political leadership to stop pursuing the adoption of additional congressional resolutions that simply repeat what was already accomplished in 1975 and 1984, and to re-channel their efforts to more productive legal demands from the government of Turkey through U.S. and European courts. It is now clear that the repeated and failed Armenian attempts to pass previously adopted resolutions may not only be wasting valuable time and resources, but could also be detrimental to the pursuit of Armenian legal claims.
    Finally, Pres. Obama and several previous Presidents must bear their share of responsibility for this unwelcome judicial development, given the fact that they pledged to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as candidates and reneged on their promises, once in office. Pres. Obama should be made aware of the serious legal consequences of his breach of trust and asked to make good on his campaign promise.
    Armenians and all those who believe in justice should urge the establishment of a U.S. commission — similar to the one for Holocaust victims — to settle all claims of properties and possessions arising from the Armenian Genocide. Even though this would not be an easy task, it would at least be the start of a tangible and meaningful process!
  • FALSIFIERS OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN CONFLICT

    FALSIFIERS OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN CONFLICT

    There is not a day when some Armenian activist somewhere around the country is not deliberately defaming and demonizing Turks, Turkish-Americans, Turkey, and even friends of Turkey. This is done by signs, blogs, letters, talks, films, panels, exhibitions, indoctrination summer camps, and/or a combination of these and other vehicles. Why?

    If the Armenian claims are so truth, so watertight, so slam dunk, why such passionate, radical, sometimes even fanatic behavior, which is known in the past, to have led to Armenian terrorism victimizing ordinary citizens?

    Do you see the Irish going around and bombing British facilities to have the potato famine acknowledged?

    Do you see the Jews going around and bombing German installations to have the Holocaust recognized?

    Do you see Japanese bombing American owned buildings to have the Japanese internment admitted?

    What is wrong with Armenians? Especially those who still revere Armenian terrorists (like the notorious Lisbon Five ?)

    And those who never condemn Armenian terrorism of the past 40+ years victimizing 70+ innocent men, women, and children, mostly of Turkish heritage, but some non-Turkish ones, too?

    ARMENIAN HYPOCRISY IN SUPPORTING TERRORISM

    What can one say in the face of an incredible hypocrisy that while all Armenians mourn the assassination of Hrant Dink in 2007 by a Turkish teenager, no Armenian will remember, much less mourn, the assassination in 1982 of the Turkish consul general, Kemal Arikan, by an Armenian teenager? Both victims were 52 years old, married, had teenage daughters, and killed by a teenager filled with hate by his elders. Why this double standard in the Armenian community? Why would they now acknowledge, much less condemn, more than 2000 acts of terrorism committed by brainwashed and fanatic Armenian youth?

    Armenian love to hate all things Turkish. So much so, that they even falsify the record of one of the most accomplished Turkish historians, Prof. Esat Uras, the founder of Turkish Armenianology. His 1000+ plus book “Armenians in History and The Armenian Question” still shines the brightest light into a dark chapter of history that is the Turkish-Armenian conflict. You know what Armenian propagandists call him? Pan-Turkish ideology and former Turkish secret service agent. Give me a break!

    If it were this simple to defame a man’s personality, character, and lifelong career, then the Armenian lobby would have nothing to do today, as there is not anyone in the contra-genocide camp, yours truly included, that the Armenian did not call Turkish government agent, someone paid by Turkish interests, lobbyist, propagandist, or similar. Such intimidation, harassment, and even veiled threats by Armenians, though, only help create only a bitter smile on our faces and more research, publications, and public education in return.

    Why do Armenian attack the doyen of Turkish historians, Prof. Esat Uras, so viciously? Because of many of his books? Yes. But perhaps more for what he wrote about Armenia and the Armenian identity:

    “Armenia cannot be anything other than simple memory based on geography, a region without political boundaries.”

    IS ARMENIAN HISTORY MOSTLY PROPAGANDA MADE IN GLENDALE ?The

    Armenians prefer to call mountainous eastern Anatolia Armenia but they only lived there, scattered over a very wide territory and were always a small minority in the areas they lived. If communities can claim the right to every place they lived, then there would be thousands of countries as members of the United Nations today. Can Armenians claim California as their own just because they number 20% of Glendale and 10% of Fresno? Or Massachusetts because 5 % of some town there is Armenian?

    Armenians were also furious with what Center for Strategic Research, a think tank in Ankara that is similar to Hudson Institute in Washington DC, wrote in “Armenian Claims & Historical Facts”:

    “It is certain that the Armenians did not originate in Armenia (Eastern Anatolia highlands) not did they live there for three to four thousand years as claimed. They put forward these ideas merely to support their claim that the Turks drove them out of a homeland in which they lived for thousands of years. But these claims cannot stand up the facts.”

    Armenians still think they can humiliate Turks and destroy Turkish history with falsifications, fabrications, and deception. They still think they can implement an apartheid on Turkish soil, where a tiny minority would be allowed (by the powers east and west) to rule over a majority of non-Armenians. They still think they can pressure, harass, and eventually destroy Turkey. Then again, Armenians are not exactly known for their sound thinking. They also think that a tail can wag the dog.

    The most shocking of all is that some American institutions of higher education would allow themselves to become a vehicle used by directly/indirectly-paid-Armenian-agents and/or direct/indirect beneficiaries of the Armenian-financed-genocide-industry (Akcam, Gocek, et.al.) to promote Armenian version of history.

    “…Armenians further claim that they were the people of Urartu which existed in Anatolia starting about 3000 BC. This claim has no basis in fact. No form of the name Armenian was found in any inscription in Anatolia dating from that period, nor was any similarity at all between the Armenian language and that of Urartu, the former being a satem group of Indo-European languages while the latter was similar to Ural-Altaic languages. Nor were there any similarities between their cultures. There is, therefore, absolutely no evidence at all to support the claim that the people of Urartu were Armenian…”

    Source: “Armenian Claims & Historical Facts”, Center for Strategic Research, Ankara (A think-tank like Hudson Institute in Washington DC.)

    ARMENIAN NARRATIVES ARE PARTI PRIS, SELECTIVE, AND UNTRUSTWORTHY

    So, much of poses to be serious writings in academic journals about modern Armenian history, produced by academics like C.J. Walker, well known for his passionate support of the Armenian cause, are parti pris, discriminatory, and unreliable.

    It is the Armenian-financed and/or supported genocide scholars who have an interest in cover up, distortion, secretive reviewing of data, falsification, fabrication, and deception, and who do not seek to discover or explain the situation as it really was.

    The Karabagh territory historically belongs to Azerbaijan. Armenians relocated there by Tsarist Russia in accordance with the long standing Russian policy of substitution of Muslims of Caucasus (by killing or expelling) by reliable elements (Armenians and others.)

    Armenians are newcomers and colonists even in the eastern Anatolian highlands. The ancestors of Armenians arrived there in the 6th century BC and actually destroyed the Urartians. The three so called 5th century historians, Buzand, Khorten, and Yeghiske, are non-existent and the works attributed to them are non-credible para-historic texts.

    Armenian propagandists are busy defaming and demonizing the Turkish identity, promoting the false Armeniological school, which corrupts and distorts Turkish history in accordance with the Armenian designs.

    SEVEN ARMENIAN OR ARMENOPHILE SCHOLARS IN TROUBLE

    Armenians are so intolerant to dissent and responsible opposing views that if you do not tow the official Armenian party line in telling the Armenian history, you will be declared an enemy of the Armenians even if your career is spent in appeasing them. If you don’t believe me, ask these scholars: Nina G. Garsoian, Ronald Grigor Suny, Robert W. Thomson, Richard G. Hovannisian, James R. Russel, Peter S. Cowe, Alina Ayvazian, Simon Payaslian, and others.

    Can you believe the Armenian fanatics? These seven scholars spent a life time trying to appease the Armenian propagandists but just because they question the Armenian identity or homelands, they were “nixed”. If I were any one of these seven scholars, I would definitely avoid Armenian functions in the next… uh… 195 years. Armenian fanatics are in no mood to see any of these seven scholars or the scholars will “get it”. The Armenian hoodlums made derogatory videos about them and posted them in youtube. These seven scholars are “shish kebab” now as far as the Armenian thugs are concerned. You see what I mean?

    Ronald Grigor Suny is the holder of the first Alex Manoogian chair in Modern Armenian History in the Univ. of Michigan. In other words, he is as “partyline” as you can possibly get to the Armenian version of history. In his book “Looking Towards Ararat: Armenians in Modern History” , 1993, page 4-5, he writes this:

    “…The national consciousness of Armenians about their identity is nothing but a collection of beliefs…”

    Now if I say this, Armenians falsifiers and their Turk-hating stooges are quick to label me Turkish-government agent, paid-lobbysist, genocide denier, blah…blah…blah… But look who is saying it?

    Let’s continue with the writings of this Armenian-propagandist-turned-instant-Armenian-enemy:

    “…The present Armenian people are a product of natural intermingling of different ethnic groups…

    The ancestors of Armenians were invaders of Armenian (eastern Anatolian) highlands who have migrated to Armenia in the 6th century BC…”

    Source: Same book, page 7. Wow!

    Again, if I uttered these words, columnists kissing Armenian (you know what) would walk all over each other to call me names. Sorry to disappoint them but one cannot argue with facts, can one?

    Fasten your seatbelts for this one:

    “…The Armenian-Turkish conflict was provoked by the Armenian nationalists in order to overtake Turkish Anatolia and the Turkish side simply reacted…”

    Source: Ronald Grigor Suny, “Nation Making, Nation Breaking: The End of the Ottoman Empire and the Armenian Community”, 1996, page 3.

    Forgive me, your honor, you majesty, your high and mighty genocide scholar of the 17th order, but isn’t that exactly what I have been writing all these years? If what I was subjected to by the Armenian falsifiers and Turk-haters is any indication, then this poor Ronald Grigor Suny is in serious trouble. Who knows, Armenian terrorists might bomb his house, too, just like they did UCLA’s Prof. Stanford Shaw’s house in 1977 for saying the same things. Ah, but in those days, who knows, people like you, Ronald Grigor Suny, ridiculed Prof Stanford Shaw and ignored his freedom of speech, didn’t you?

    Well, what do you know, now you are in the same spot as Prof Stanford Shaw was in 1977! You are not exactly a (so called) genocide denier, but you deny worse: you deny Armenian identity and homeland. (Don’t you love it? Does this thing get any better than this?)

    Finally, there is this:

    “…The Turkic-Azeris are the direct descendants of the Caucasian Albanians and the territory of Karabakh historically belonged to (Azeris)…”

    Source: Ronald Grigor Suny, “Looking Towards Ararat: Armenians in Modern History” , 1993, page 193

    Thank you, Ronald Grigor Suny, the Armenian-propagandist-turned-instant-Armenian-enemy. Who is going to save you from the Armenian Revolutionary federation now?

    Lesson of the day: Truth rules, sooner or later.

  • Court tosses Calif. law on payments to Armenians

    Court tosses Calif. law on payments to Armenians

    Armenians have been told by the court that the use of the word ‘genocide’ is illegal.

    rebelsrectangleaug25

    By LISA LEFF (AP) – 10 hours ago

    SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court invalidated a California law Thursday that allowed heirs of Armenians killed in the Turkish Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago to seek payment on the life insurance policies of dead relatives.

    The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law amounted to unconstitutional meddling in U.S. foreign policy.

    It based its 2-1 ruling on a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down another California law designed to help Holocaust survivors collect on Nazi-era insurance policies.

    The federal government does not recognize the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide, but the California Legislature did in 2000 when it enacted the disputed law.

    About half of the people of Armenian descent living in this country reside in California.

    Lawyer Brian Kabateck, who represents Armenian-American heirs, plans to appeal.

    “The ruling is wrong. It’s a disaster,” Kabateck said. “The one million Armenians that live in California today have been told by the court that even the use of the word ‘genocide’ by a government is illegal.”

    If the ruling is not set aside, it would prevent Armenian heirs from claiming inheritances and prohibit California and other states from marking the anniversary of the onset of the ethnic bloodshed that claimed the lives of up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919 in what is now eastern Turkey, Kabateck said.

    He alleges European banks and insurers illegally retained assets valued in 1915 at about $15 million, a sum worth substantially more at today’s value.

    The California Legislature passed the law giving heirs of Armenians who died or fled to avoid persecution until the end of next year to file claims for old bank accounts and life insurance policies.

    Class-action lawsuits brought by Armenian descendants in California and other states led to a $20 million settlement with New York Life Insurance Co. in 2005 and a $17 million settlement the same year with French life insurer AXA.

    William Werfelman, a spokesman for New York Life, said the company had no intention of trying to get back any of the money it paid out under the 2005 settlement.

    “By acting honorably, and in keeping with our company values of humanity and integrity, New York Life made many friends in the Armenian community and we cherish these friends,” Werfelman said.

    Thursday’s ruling reversed a lower court judge who refused to dismiss another class-action suit against the German life insurance companies.

    Turkey long has denied the loss of so many Armenian lives constituted genocide and instead describes the deaths as resulting from civil unrest that accompanied the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

    The appeals court agreed with the German companies that California’s policy improperly conflicted with the federal government’s foreign policy aims.

    Neil Soltman, the lawyer who represented the German insurance companies that prevailed in the case, said his clients had stood to lose in payouts to Armenian-Americans in California. Soltman said it was not clear the companies ever sold life insurance policies to victims of the Ottoman Empire violence.

    “We are very pleased with the decision. We think it is entirely consistent with recent Supreme Court cases and 9th Circuit cases which have held that California and other states should not be passing legislation that deals with questions of foreign affairs,” he said.

    The court recounted successful efforts by former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to defeat congressional legislation that would have recognized an Armenian genocide.

    U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, who as a state assemblyman co-wrote the law that was overturned by the 9th Circuit, was perplexed by the court’s reasoning.

    “You have a group of people that has a government that hasn’t had the will to recognize the genocide and as a result of that failing, are being told they don’t have valid insurance claims,” he said.

    More coverage (from here: )

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    From:  https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/State-can-t-let-Armenian-victims-heirs-sue-3220858.php

    State can’t let Armenian victims’ heirs sue

    Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

    Thursday, August 20, 2009

    (08-20) 14:25 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A California law allowing heirs of victims of the Armenian genocide to sue in state courts for unpaid insurance benefits is unconstitutional because it conflicts with U.S. foreign policy, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

    The law contradicts past presidents’ opposition to describing Turkey’s slaughter of as many as 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said in a 2-1 ruling.

    The same panel struck down another California law Wednesday allowing owners of art stolen by the Nazis to sue for recovery of their possessions until the end of 2010.

    The court ruled that both laws intruded into the federal government’s exclusive authority over foreign affairs. State and federal courts have also have invalidated California laws that would have allowed suits over Holocaust-era insurance benefits and slave labor during World War II.

    “The federal government has made a conscious decision not to apply the politically charged label of ‘genocide’ to the deaths of these Armenians during World War I,” said Judge David Thompson, who wrote the majority opinions in both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s rulings. “Whether or not California agrees with this decision, it may not contradict it.”

    The case decided Thursday was brought by a Southern California man of Armenian descent whose class-action suit accused insurance companies of failing to pay benefits on their policies.

    His lawyer said he would ask the full appeals court for a rehearing.

    The attorney, Brian Kabateck, said there was no conflict between the state law and federal policy. About 40 states have passed resolutions recognizing the Armenian genocide, with no public objections by the U.S. or Turkish governments, he said.

    Neil Soltman, lawyer for one of the insurance companies in the case, said the ruling was consistent with past decisions overturning “efforts by California to adopt legislation which interferes with one or another aspect of the national government’s foreign policy.”

    The law, passed in 2000, refers to mass killings, death marches and other abuses of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923 as the Armenian genocide, a description that most historians also accept. The measure allows victims’ descendants to sue insurers doing business in California for unpaid benefits until the end of 2010.

    The court said national policy on the issue was defined by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who opposed congressional resolutions that described the killings as a genocide. The presidents’ warnings that any such measure would damage U.S. relations with Turkey persuaded House leaders to drop the resolutions without a floor vote three times, the court said.

    President Obama said during his campaign that the nation deserves “a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide.” But he refrained from using the term during a trip to Turkey in April. His administration has not taken a position in the court case.

    E-mail Bob Egelko at [email protected].

    Yeghern

    8/20/2009 4:53:29 PM

    Since when are States forbidden to deal with genocide issues?Lets close down museums and change school curriculums for fear of offending the Turkish ambassador who wrote to the US Federal Judges telling them to stay out of genocide!Devastating decision for US justice..

    purkel

    8/20/2009 4:33:48 PM

    The USA should not overlook any evidence of ethnic cleansing or genocide. Shame on Clinton and Bush.

    username withheld

    8/20/2009 4:01:09 PM

    This comment violated SFGate’s Terms and Conditions, and has been removed.

    Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/State-can-t-let-Armenian-victims-heirs-sue-3220858.php#ixzz0OmABenFF